The New Kid
by MikoCatgirl
Summary: Any event at any single point in time can drastically alter the future. The past has been rewritten to give Nagisa a darker background. Follow the story of Strawberry Panic! through the eyes of a not-so-innocent Nagisa.
1. Aoi Nagisa

"_Astraea Hill?" Our protagonist asked, looking through a packet of documents pertaining to the school. "Are you sure I should be transferring to another private school? This one seems too…prestigious. I'd rather not have to deal with that awkward sense of d_éjà_ vu." _

"_Nonsense! Only the best for my lovely granddaughter." Her grandfather, Ryoji Aoi, laughed heartily as he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The man had just recently passed seventy years of age, but he was still bursting with so much excess energy that you could swear he was still a teenager. That is if you can ignore the gray beard and receding hairline, of course.  
><em>

"_Do I really belong there? I already feel out of place just by returning to Japan after so long. I really don't think I belong in that kind of place." She couldn't help letting out a sigh before a mischievous grin tugged on her lips. "I bet your wallet isn't so happy about this decision." She tried to lighten the mood, more for her own sake rather than for his.  
><em>

_Ryoji let out a merry laugh, apparently unaware of his granddaughter's discomfort. "When my wallet finally grows a mouth to voice its own opinion, then I'll worry about what it thinks of my spending habits!" If there was one thing she always loved about her grandfather, it was that he could be so lighthearted about most situations. That very thing she liked about him also unnerved her due to his complete lack of tact in that same situation. "A private all-girls school back in Japan is the best chance for you to overcome last year's incident." He spoke in a lighter tone than he had intended, causing her to visibly cringe. He didn't need to see her eyes to notice the pain on her face. _

"_Gramps…" She pulled her arms into a defensive position, bringing her balled left fist over her heart while her right hand wrapped around her left wrist. She stared down at the documents on her lap, but not actually looking at them anymore._

"_Ah. Sorry about that." He spoke in a more serious tone now. "Still, I believe this is a good opportunity to surround yourself with new people and move on with your life. I know it's hard considering everything you went through, but I believe it's the right step to recovery. I miss the little Nagisa-chan that was bursting with enough energy to give even me a run for my money."_

_She nodded her head and couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. She knew his argument had some sort of logic behind it and she missed being able to smile while being surrounded by friends, instead of putting on staged smiles to appease strangers. He was also paying for everything so there wasn't much room for a counter-argument. "I know. Thank you."_

"_Of course." His serious expression lightened up and he smirked. "Now go pack your things. You'll transfer in Monday to meet with Sister Mizue." He shooed her up to her room and she complied halfheartedly. _

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue: The Transfer<strong>

_Meet our protagonist, Nagisa Aoi. Well, Aoi Nagisa now that she's back in Japan. When she was six years old, her parents were killed in a car accident that should have claimed her life as well. The only relative she had left that was willing to take her in was her grandfather, Ryoji. Due to Ryoji's work being located overseas, Nagisa had no choice but to move to America to live with her grandfather. Ten years later, circumstances forced Nagisa to drop out of school and disappear from the public eye. Trying to help her get her life back on track, Ryoji brought Nagisa back to Japan to try and drive away her memories of what happened back in the United States._

An exaggerated sigh escaped Nagisa's lips as she studied the poorly drawn map. "Seriously, gramps? Couldn't you have just given me mapquest directions or something? I love you and all, but your drawings are just so horrible that they're well… worse than mine." She mumbled for the umpteenth time as she rounded a corner. "Let's see… it should be straight ahead." She looked up from the map. "Ah! There it is! Astraea Hill! Just at the top of that hill… surrounded by a forest…" She stared blankly at the hill for a moment, and then panicked as realization dawned on her. "Seriously? Who builds a school in the middle of a forest? Oh, damn it. I'm going to be so late!" She pocketed the map in her bag and began her frantic sprint towards the school, screaming obscenities in her head. _Why did I reject his offer to drive me to school? I'm such an idiot!_

Nagisa slowed to a stop as she reached the top of the hill, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "I can't remember the last time I ran that fast. I'm out of shape." She lifted her head slightly to look down the road before her as she recovered. The path was bordered by sakura trees on both sides with the wind blowing the pink petals through the air all around her. Nagisa grabbed one that landed on her shoulder and studied it for a moment. "I think I've seen this in anime before - sakura trees lining the path to school. Just what you'd expect from such a high class private school, I guess." _I should probably stop vocalizing my thoughts before people start to think I'm some crazy girl that talks to herself. I'm clearly just some crazy girl with an obsession for internal monologue._

She turned the focus of her attention onto the students that were walking down the path ahead of her. _They all look so casual, but at the same time they look so… dignified? It must be the school's uniforms. Why are there three different ones?_ She observed the students with a ponderous look, trying to jog her memory about something in the documents that related to it. _Think, think, think._ She rubbed her temples in a circular motion in a pointless attempt to remember. _Oh yeah!_ Well, what do you know? It worked. _Astraea Hill is divided into three different schools. I think I'm transferring into... what was it called? Matcher? Matador? Mitsuhide? No wait, it was Miator. I really hope Miator gets the black uniforms. I hate wearing short skirts._

Nagisa casually strolled down the road as she continued to glance around at the students. She was no longer in a rush, believing that she clearly wasn't running late if the other students were not in a hurry. As she looked around, she couldn't help but notice that the other students were taking notice of her, giving her confused and skeptical looks while whispering to each other. She could feel a nervous panic start to set in. She gripped the strap of her bag tightly and took a deep breath.

_Calm down. It's just because you're the new girl. You only stand out because of your clothes. They don't know anything else about yo__u._ She told herself repeatedly, forcing her stress level to drop a few notches. Nagisa has not received her new uniform yet. Due to being in the United States until now, where the schools did not have uniforms, she had no choice but wear casual street clothing. _I probably could have worn some elegant dress or something, and I kind of wish I did. _She was currently dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a blue t-shirt with the word "MEH" written across the chest in white, a pair of black sneakers, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of black wristbands. Her strawberry hair, which she usually tied back, was combed down lazily. Nagisa didn't waste much time on it this morning in fear of being late. _I don't give off a very dignified vibe, do I?_

Nagisa continued down the path after her panic had subsided. She stopped when she noticed that the path suddenly turned. She looked down past the trees and noticed that it was a rather steep hill. _They_ _should put a fence or something here. Someone could totally be in a rush, trip, and roll down this hill if they didn't stop in time. Nah. This is a very prestigious school. I doubt they'd let in someone who was stupid enough to do that._ She sighed and looked back at the students before continuing along the path. _Still, it really makes me feel like a commoner in the midst of high class society._

At the entrance of the school, she saw a woman with short blue hair looking at her watch as if she was waiting for someone. As she approached the gates, she could hear several students greet her with "Good morning" and "Good day, Rokujo-senpai." _Rokujo? I think that's who I'm supposed to meet. She's the student council president of Miator, according to gramps._ The student council was one of those things about Japan that she just didn't understand._ Are the schools so underfunded that they had to get their own students to run things because the staff couldn't?_ She stopped walking and ended that train of thought before making herself known to the president too soon. She couldn't help but observe her for a moment. _She seems like a pretty stiff person. Oh well, she's part of Miator and she's wearing the black uniform. Score!_

Nagisa took a deep breath and put on her best salesman smile. One thing her grandfather always taught her was that appearances were important. It seemed like a futile and pointless effort considering how casually she was dressed, but she couldn't really be blamed for that, could she? _I'm sure I could be. I would blame me and I'm supposed to be on my side._ Nagisa shrugged the thought off. _It'll be fine if I at least speak like I belong here...probably. _It was also a good defense mechanism to prevent people from knowing what she was actually thinking, for better or worse. "Good morning, Rokujo-senpai." Nagisa greeted in a calm yet confident tone.

"Yes, good morning." She greeted, still looking at her watch. Her eyebrows suddenly rose as she realized she didn't recognize the voice that greeted her. Nagisa made sure not to laugh at the humorous sight as the president turned to face her. "Ah, sorry. You must be Aoi Nagisa, correct?"

"What gave me away?" Nagisa asked in an innocent tone.

"Probably the jeans." Rokujo answered in a surprisingly casual tone.

_Guess she isn't as stiff as I pictured. She must have just had something else on her mind. _Nagisa pondered as she let out a little chuckle. "Thank goodness. I was worried it was the shirt. Yes, I'm Aoi Nagisa. Pleasure to meet you."

"As you've already figured out, I am Rokujo Miyuki, student council president of Miator." She replied in a somewhat more stiff tone. Nagisa figured it was likely due to the president having to introduce herself to multiple people over time that she just got tired of it. It wasn't like Nagisa minded anyway. She was more glad that Miyuki didn't say anything negative about how she was dressed. What was even better than that was that she apparently wasn't late. "You're late." _Damn it!_ "Well, it doesn't really matter too much. I am here to take you to meet with the Head Sister." Miyuki turned around after Nagisa nodded and led the transfer student into the school.

Aoi Nagisa's new school year starts now!


	2. Rules and Rumors

**Act I: Creating Friendships**

Nagisa had to admit that she was impressed. She recalled reading in the documents that the schools were built several decades ago, and out of the three schools, Miator was the oldest. Despite being so old, the buildings were still in great condition. The walls didn't seem run down, the floor and ceiling still looked new, and she couldn't find dust anywhere. Nagisa could tell that they had one hell of an impressive cleaning crew, but that only confused her because she has yet to see a janitor, nor had she seen anything that looked like it could be a broom closet. _I really hope that Japanese tradition doesn't have the students cleaning the school as well as running the student council. I can understand wanting to save money, but that's a bit eccentric. Wait. How long has Rokujo been talking?_

Nagisa looked up at the upperclassman in front of her who was apparently talking about the school rules. _Oh, good. Nothing important._ She couldn't help but notice that Miyuki specifically made sure to look back at Nagisa when mentioning the rules about the school uniform and the one about not having cell phones and music devices during school hours. "In my defense, I don't even have a cell phone." Nagisa retorted, catching her eyes in a deadlock the moment Miyuki looked behind her again.

"Well then, at least there's one rule we won't have to worry about you breaking." Miyuki replied with a slight grin.

"Oh, woe is me. The student council president is mocking me on my first day." Nagisa held her hands over her heart and spoke in mock hurt, earning a slight chuckle from the mentioned president. _Huh. She's a lot easier to make laugh than I thought. Perhaps we'll get along just fine. I wouldn't want to make an enemy with someone in her position just because she's boring. Or would I? Yeah, I probably would._

As Miyuki resumed explaining the rules, Nagisa's attention was directed elsewhere. She could have just told her that she had read all the school's rules before coming here, but she figured Miyuki might ask her question about her transfer if she did, and Nagisa was not in the mood for those types of questions. Then again, she could also argue that having to be back by six was kind of ridiculous for people her age. She knew it wouldn't make a difference, but it was certainly fun to argue about something that the person she was arguing against probably didn't agree with either. _I'm really going to end up getting in trouble on my first day at this rate._

During the walk to the Sister's office, Nagisa focused her attention on the various rumors that always populated all girls schools. Nagisa wasn't one to love rumors and she knew they were usually baseless or falsely spread to antagonize someone, but if you could find the right sources, you can hear actual stories and not just gossip.

Most of the rumors were rather bland, or just regular gossip about how cool some senpai was. She had no idea who this Amane chick was, but she seemed to be quite popular among students of all three schools. _I bet 500 yen she looks like a dude._ She thought, mostly because this Amane character was referred to as 'hot' and 'cool', rather than 'gorgeous' and 'beautiful' like the other women of gossip. She had no idea what an Etoile was, but apparently her beauty was stunning. Nagisa also deduced that she was an important person in the school based on the use of the '-sama' honorific instead of '-senpai'. _If she's as important as she appears to be, I'll run into her eventually. I doubt that anyone is really that beautiful though. Damn rumors actually made me curious._

One rumor she really found interesting was about the student council of Spica. Apparently, as far as the rumor goes, two members named Momomi and Kaname, who also happen to be roommates, were seen making out outside their room one day. Other rooms indicated that it was a well-established fact that the two of them were already a couple, and the two Spicans didn't deny it when asked. What Nagisa found interesting wasn't the rumor itself, but people's reaction to it. _No one_ seemed to mind it at all. This was a complete contradiction to the amount of bigotry she had seen in her previous high school. (Pro tip: Tenth grade is the first year of high school in Japan and the second year of high school in the United States in case any readers out there didn't know. It's the case for most schools anyway. Some places do things differently, but that's irrelevant.)

_I had thought it was weird that there was a rule against public displays of affection in an all girls school. It seems that kind of thing isn't frowned down upon here at all. Well, the idea of it isn't, but doing it in public will piss the staff off. Then again, _that _is true for all schools. You picked a good school, gramps, in terms of the lack of bigotry anyway. _Nagisa smirked. She had grown exhausted of hearing bigotry on a daily basis. It hadn't been directed at her, but having to listen to it as if it was a normal conversational topic was rather annoying. It was good to be surrounded by people who weren't so openly disgusted by a group of people without any real indication as to why. _Oh. Miyuki got quiet all of a sudden. Is this it?_

Miyuki opened the door to the Sister's office and signaled Nagisa to walk in first. _No pressure, right?_ She thought as she walked inside and cautiously approached the Sister's desk. Nagisa couldn't help but notice that the Sister wasn't dressed in the same clothing as the students, which made sense after she thought about it. She could only assume that was what Sisters typically wore, because she had absolutely no idea.

"Sister Hamasaka, I have brought the transfer student." She heard Miyuki say from behind her as she walked up next to the desk. _Hey, you said my name earlier. How heartless._ The Sister looked up from her desk at Miyuki, then turned to Nagisa. _She doesn't look like a bad person, but I can't help but wonder what that stick on her desk is for. That's certainly not a ruler. Maybe she hits kids with it for breaking the rules? Oh! Maybe Miyuki was trying to help me by telling me all the rules again before I faced her. What a nice president._

"You must be Aoi Nagisa." The nun had a stern voice. _Yeah, she totally sounds like someone who takes the rules seriously. I bet she gives vicious lectures to rule breakers. I wonder if any of them cried. Aww damn it. I'm rambling. Focus!_

"Yes ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Nagisa bowed her head respectfully. This was another tradition she did not like. She had nothing against it, but she would much prefer shaking hands to bowing heads any day.

"I see you're just as polite as Ryoji-san has said." _Wait, what?_ The Sister's reply was certainly not what Nagisa was expecting as she suddenly looked back up. The curious look on Miyuki's face said she was not expecting it either. Then again, it'd be weirder if she did.

"You knew my grandfather, Head Sister-san?" Nagisa asked, not wanting to take the risk of messing up the Sister's name by saying it wrong. She had no idea what Miyuki called her.

"Indeed. I had met him when we were both children before he moved to study abroad in America." _No way. He left Japan when he was nineteen. She remembers him after fifty years? That old fart really knows how to leave an impression, huh? Oh, wow. I know how old the head sister is. Take that, rumor lovers._ "I believe he mentioned something about returning to Japan one day to capture a bear for me as a birthday present. He was always so full of energy. How is he doing now?"

Nagisa couldn't help but smile. That was the grandfather she always knew. "He's still so full of energy that you would think the man hadn't aged a day in his life. It's actually funny that you mention him capturing a bear. He mentioned on the plane ride here that he was going to search all over Mt. Fuji in hopes of finding a bear to keep a promise." Nagisa's face and voice turned serious. "Ma'am, I don't know if there are any bears in Japan at all, but chances are that he will find one even if there aren't. You should be prepared."

The Sister's laugh caught both Nagisa and especially Miyuki off guard. "Yes, that does sound like him. He really hasn't changed a bit." _Wow. Even the head sister here laughed. I must be doing something right. It's hard not to laugh at Miyuki though. I've never seen someone look so surprised and confused before. Her eyebrows have risen more times than I could possibly count in the past five minutes._

The casual feeling in the air seemed to vanish almost instantly when the Sister had a serious expression on her face. "Your grandfather has already informed me about your medical condition and your reason for transferring here." Nagisa went stiff again. Miyuki noticed immediately and her eyebrow rose for the nth time. Apparently, she did not know or notice anything wrong with Nagisa. If the Sister noticed, she was certainly good at not showing it. _Well I suppose I should be glad he told her for me so I wouldn't have to._ "He also said you would be bringing the medical documents. Do you have them?"

"Y-yes, of course. It's always important to document everything, right?" Nagisa forced herself to calm down. _The Sister knew before I got here about me and didn't show any signs of disgust towards me, so she probably isn't going to hold it against me. Miyuki doesn't seem to know, and I'm pretty sure that a Head Sister wouldn't share something like that._

Nagisa reached into her bag and pulled out a folder with the documents in it and handed it to her. "Medical condition?" She heard Miyuki ask. Nagisa didn't think Miyuki was actually going to ask, and judging by the look on her face, Miyuki didn't mean to ask out loud. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to-" Nagisa just smiled and held one finger up. She walked over to the door silently and quickly pulled it open, causing the girls who had been leaning on it to fall onto the floor in her office. _No matter what country you go to, some things will never change._ _Hmm? Are these girls from Lulim?_ The orange-haired and green-haired girls quickly got up and scrambled out of the room before the Sister could tell who they were. Nagisa chuckled as she closed the door.

"Don't worry about it, Rokujo-san." Nagisa said calmly and noticed that Miyuki silently sighed with relief. _Guess I can call her –san instead of –senpai. Wonder if I'll end up calling her Miyuki-chan before the end of the day. That'd be awesome._ "_That_'s not something that really bothers me to talk about. I'm used to it by now." Nagisa tapped her sunglasses. "Due to an accident about ten years ago, I damaged my eyes in ways I was too young and shocked to understand, and now I simply don't remember the explanation. All I remember is that I was diagnosed with photophobia, so I have to wear these sunglasses around light."

"I-I see." Was all Miyuki could reply with. _She seems like the type that's going to feel bad about it but pretend everything is normal._ Before anyone could add anything else, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." The Sister ordered. The door opened, allowing a very, _very_ happy blunette to walk in.

"Aoi-san," Miyuki spoke up. "this is your roommate, Suzumi Tamao."


	3. Is Everyone a Pervert?

"_Aoi-san," Miyuki spoke up. "this is your roommate, Suzumi Tamao."_

Miyuki's words fell on deaf ears. The moment Tamao had entered the room, Nagisa had gone silent and motionless. _W-wow. Maybe it's just because I've been surrounded by people who used too much makeup, but she's really pretty. Damn, I really hope I'm not blushing right now. Is she really my roommate? I don't know if the Gods are on my side right now or if they're just laughing behind my back. Aww… she stopped smiling. She looks worried. Oh damn. How long have I been staring at her? Snap out of it, Nagisa!_

Nagisa quickly forced herself to calm down and smiled, a natural smile instead of her all too common formal smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aoi Nagisa. I look forward to our school year together." Nagisa bowed her head slightly, then looked back at Tamao to see that she was smiling again. _Oh yeah, the Gods are totally laughing at me._

"Yes, I already know who you are. I'm glad to finally meet you, Nagisa-chan." _Her voice is pretty too. Wait, we're already on a first name basis? Does that mean we're already friends? Lucky! Wait. Stop, Nagisa! You're going to blush for real if you keep this up._

The Head Sister cleared her throat. _How long was I staring this time?_ _Bless you, head sister! You've rescued me from the danger that is my mind._ "I've asked Suzumi-san here to show you around campus and to help you get your uniform." _So I get to spend all day with her thanks to the head Sister? Best. Sister. Ever._ "The two of you share a dorm room and you both have the same schedule, so she should be the one you ask first if you have any questions. If there's anything she can't answer, feel free to come to me or Rokujo-san."

"Y-yes. Thank you very much." Nagisa bowed her head quickly. _I wonder which thing I'm thanking her._

After the head sister dismissed the three of them, Miyuki led Tamao and Nagisa out into the hall. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Nagisa quickly spoke up. "Actually, I have something that I figured I should ask the both of you. I read that the middle school and high and school are connected, so the curriculum builds off of the previous years, right? So the French class I'll be taking is technically the fourth year of French, yes?" When both Miyuki and Tamao nodded their heads in confirmation, Nagisa hung her head low and sighed quiet audibly. _Craaaaaap._ "I feared as much." She looked back up at the two of them. "I've never taken French before, so I'll be three years behind everyone else. Is there any way I could get a copy of the notes or anything from the first three years of French? I figure if I focus my study on that, I should have some sort of grasp on it by midterms."

"That's quite a goal to set. Do you think you can comprehend three years of French in a semester?" Miyuki asked. Nagisa couldn't tell if she was surprised, curious, intrigued, or all three.

"My grandfather always told me that if you have a tough goal, it's important to set a time frame that seems just out of reach to make yourself work twice as hard to achieve it. Besides, if I don't want to flunk, I had better learn it in that time frame." She had a bummed out expression as she finished explaining.

Miyuki placed a hand on her chin, most likely thinking about if she could get the notes. Well that was what Nagisa figured she was thinking. _That, or she's wondering how my crazy ass got in this school without any previous French classes. Or both. Probably both._ Miyuki's eyes suddenly lit up as if an idea popped in her head. "Yes, I believe I know where I can get the notes for you. If I recall correctly, there is another student in year six that has kept all of her notes since year one. I believe she would be willing to lend you her notes. I should be able to get them to you sometime this week."

"Awesome! Thank you, Miyuki-san! I knew I could count on you." Nagisa smiled innocently, noting but not pointing out the slight blush when she called Miyuki by name. Miyuki nodded her head before turning and taking her leave. _I'd be pushing it too much if I went with –chan. Well it looks like I've become friends with the student council president now. Nice going, Nagisa! _

"You seem to get along well with Rokujo-san. Have you two known each other long, Nagisa-chan?" She heard Tamao suddenly ask once Miyuki turned the corner.

Nagisa had a playful grin on her face. "Oh yeah. We have a lot of history. I'd say we've known each other for about seventy… no, probably eighty minutes." She said in a teasing tone, causing Tamao to giggle. _A cute laugh too. Stop mocking me, Gods! _"But now I think it's more important to find out how well I get along with Tamao-chan, right?"

"Yes, but before we get to that, I need to borrow a little bit of your time." Tamao said in a somewhat darker tone as she pulled her hands apart, revealing some sort of string in her hand.

Nagisa stepped back, a frightened look flashing on her face. _Woah! What the heck? I didn't' sign up for any BDSM stuff here! Who'd have thought that the sweet angel would be a total sadist and- hey, wait. _"Is that measuring tape?" Nagisa's scared appearance suddenly deflated into a 'what the heck?' look as realization dawned on her.

"Yes. We need to take your measurements for your uniform." _Why does she sound excited?_ "Please step into the nurse's office so we can measure."

_When did we get to the nurse's office? Oh, wow. It's right across the hall from the Sister's office. There's no way that's just a coincidence. How many victims has that stick claimed?_

"Sorry to disappoint you…" Nagisa opened her bag and rummaged through it. "I figured this would happen since I didn't have a uniform yet." She pulled out an index card. "I have already checked all of my measurements before I came here. I figured it would save some time."

"Oh. Well, that's quite some insight you have." _Not so much insight as it is paranoia. Why does she sound so disappointed? I feel like I just killed her fun._ Tamao took the index card from Nagisa and looked it over. _It…it looks like she's studying it rather intently. I'm probably just imagining it._ The two girls traveled in silence as they went to order Nagisa's uniform. The transfer student was distracted by how the rumors in the hall seemed to be about her now. _Shouldn't they be in class by now? Oh great. They're looking at me as they're whispering. Way to make the new girl feel welcome.  
><em>

The trip to get Nagisa's uniform went without incident and was followed by a tour of the classrooms. They remained mostly silent as to avoid interrupting the classes that were currently going on.

"Is it alright for you to be missing class just to show me around? Miyuki-san must have missed her first class as well." The thought had been on Nagisa's mind for a while, but actually seeing the classes made her want to ask.

"Of course. No one made me show you around; I volunteered." Tamao replied with that same pretty smile. Before Nagisa could reply, Tamao took her hand and led her down the hall. "We've still got much more ground to cover if we're going to see it all today." Nagisa's heart started beating quickly and her free hand tightened to the point that her knuckles were white. _It's just holding hands. Calm down. This kind of thing is normal between friends in Japan. You're not going to be able to explain yourself if you have a panic attack or start hyperventilating. _

"I-it's a good thing I'm wearing sneakers then." Nagisa sounded much more nervous than she had intended, but it seemed that Tamao had passed it off as her not looking forward to all of the walking.

They traveled in silence once again until they left for their next destination, which was the library that was located in the center of the campus near the church. Tamao had made a joke about the library being referred to as the secret garden where lovers rendezvous at, finally forcing a blush out of Nagisa. _What an odd joke to tell a girl you've known for two hours. Be still my beating heart._

"So Nagisa-chan…" Tamao suddenly spoke up as the two of them walked around Spica. Nagisa wasn't sure why she was being shown one of the other three schools, but she didn't' bother asking. _Maybe I'll see this Amane I've heard about. Or those two lovers on the council. I wonder why Lulim doesn't have rumors like that. Oh well. It's not important._ "What made you decide to transfer to Miator all of a sudden? It's pretty unusual for someone to transfer in during the fourth year."

Nagisa had been dreading the inevitability of these conversations. "Well, to make a long story short, I had fallen ill last year and missed an entire year of school as a result. When I had finally recovered, my gran-err, my family decided that it was best that we move for a change of scenery while I returned to school. My family always wanted the best for me, so they picked this school." _I wonder when I got so good at lying. I've been doing it like it is second nature lately. Not a good way to start a friendship. I don't know if I should feel bad that she seems to have believed me. _"It was pretty much luck that caused me to end up in this school of all choices." _I suppose that part technically isn't a lie._

"Well it seems luck is on my side." _Huh? _"Thanks to that luck, I have Nagisa-chan as my roommate. I'm very happy." _Now I _know_ I'm blushing. How can she say something so embarrassing so easily?_

"Oh, I had no idea you were such a flirt, Tamao-chan." Nagisa said with a suggestive grin, causing the blunette to blush. _The blush makes her sooo cute! This level of cuteness should be illegal._ Pro tip: It's illegal in North Dakota.

"Y-you shouldn't tease me, Nagisa-chan!" _This coming from an apparently professional tease? Was she really not doing it on purpose? _Tamao tried not to sound embarrassed, but she failed miserably, which caused Nagisa to cover her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist." Nagisa said when she could finally speak again. "Anyway, Tamao-chan is a nice person so I'm glad she's my roommate. I hope we can become good friends." Tamao nodded her head and smiled back at Nagisa. Nagisa couldn't help but match her smile. As they were walking towards Lulim, Nagisa stopped and pointed off to the side. "Is that a greenhouse?"

Tamao stopped and looked in the direction Nagisa pointed. "That's the garden where all of Astraea Hill's flowers are grown. It's one of the duties of Etoile-sama to take care of them. Do you like flowers, Nagisa-chan?"

Nagisa shook her head. "I used to when I was a kid, but not so much now. I can't appreciate their beauty anymore." Nagisa mentally slapped herself. She hadn't intended to give an honest answer like that. She slapped herself again when Tamao gave her a concerned look. _Shouldn't her look be confusion instead of concern? She probably heard me talking to Miyuki before she came in. She did happen to knock right after I explained it. Either way, I'd better change the subject quickly._ "Anyway, who is this Etoile-sama? She sounds French, which is probably why I have no idea what it means. I heard rumors about her this morning, but nothing helpful."

"Etoile-sama is the title given to the student that represents Miator, Spica, and Lulim. She's the most loved and respected student in all three schools." Tamao explained, causing Nagisa to frown.

"How would you even choose who that person is?"

"An election."

"How anti-climactic. So this person who becomes the Etoile also becomes the gardener?" _Who would run for that? Why don't they just hire a gardener? Oh right, the students do everything. _Nagisa shook her head.

"They have more responsibilities than that. Like I said, they represent the three schools. They also take part in student council meetings, though I've heard that Etoile-sama hasn't been showing up for the meetings, so things aren't getting done." _What? She was elected the most loved person in the school in an election and she isn't even doing her duty? Sounds like every election in America, except for the loved part._

"That seems like a lot of work for one person though."

"Well the election is run in pairs, but we currently only have one Etoile-sama right now." Tamao frowned as she explained this. _I wonder what happened. Then again, I'm the transfer student so it's really not my place to ask. Whatever happened was before my time, and it doesn't look like Tamao wants to talk about it. That's good enough for me to drop it.  
><em>

The rest of the tour was awkwardly silent, though Nagisa really liked Lulim. _I guess that's why there are no rumors about it. Everyone seems so carefree. I totally should have transferred to that school instead. _Nagisa sighed. _Shoulda coulda woulda, I guess. _Nagisa glanced at Tamao as she took a look at her watch. "It's already gotten late. I won't be able to give you a thorough tour of the dorm today. Sorry, Nagisa-chan."

"Don't worry about it. You've shown me a lot already." Nagisa looked up towards the setting sun. "It's gotten this late already? Don't we have a curfew to beat? I'd rather not get lectured on my first day and bring you down with me."

Tamao smiled. "Don't worry. We've still got thirty minutes left, though I wouldn't really mind being punished with Nagisa-chan." Nagisa could feel her cheeks warming up with another blush. _That one was _definitely_ on purpose!_

"Haha. You're a natural flirt, aren't you? I think we'll have more fun if our time together doesn't come with an angry Sister's lecture, right?" Tamao nodded at Nagisa's question and the two girls ran back to the Strawberry Dorms.

* * *

><p>"See? We've still got five minutes to spare." Tamao spoke up as she tried to catch her breath just inside the front gate.<p>

"Yeah, but you totally weren't planning on running that fast." A notably less exhausted Nagisa replied.

"How are you not out of breath? I'm completely exhausted." Nagisa grinned in response.

"I used to be on the track team in middle school, so I've built up quite a bit of stamina." _It's one of the few things I'm better at than lying._ _I wonder if there's a track team here. It's probably in Spica since they focus more on athletics than Miator does._ "I suppose the sneakers helped too."

"No fair. Nagisa-chan cheated." Tamao complained in a cute whiny voice.

"Aww. I'm sorry." Nagisa made sure to sound apologetic. She held her hand out for Tamao to take. "Forgive me, Tamao-chan?" And cue the innocent smile.

Tamao frowned as she took Nagisa's hand. "I can't stay mad at Nagisa-chan." The two girls walked into the dorms together. "Dinner is served at seven, but it's usually a good idea to get there a few minutes early so you can get to your seat in time. We've still got some time so I can give you a quick tour." And so she did. Tamao and Nagisa did a quick walk through the dorm halls without much to say other than Tamao pointing out their room. The two roommates returned to the cafeteria entrance at about a quarter to seven to find Miyuki standing in front of the door.

"Ah, Miyuki-san. Hello." Nagisa greeted as they walked up to her. She tilted her head to the side. "You weren't waiting for me, were you?" She put her arm over her eyes and leaned her head back. "I'm so touched! I've made such good friends today. I must be blessed!" She spoke in an over-dramatic tone, earning a laugh from both blunettes.

"I almost don't want to say I was waiting for you now." Miyuki answered with a grin. _Oh? Miyuki seems pretty casual with me now. I guess we really are friends._ "Before you eat, you should introduce yourself to Etoile-sama. I'm here to take you to her."

"I feel bad for having you escort me. You're the student council president; I figured you'd be doing something more worth your time like running the school or however those meetings go." Nagisa shrugged. She really didn't have the slightest idea.

"Taking care of new students is also a responsibility of mine. It's best if I know from the start how much trouble a new student is likely to cause." Miyuki had a serious look on her face as she spoke, but grinned when she finished.

Nagisa frowned. "Every friend I've made today is such a tease. I don't remember seeing _that_ on the curriculum anywhere."

After another laugh at the redhead's expense, Miyuki turned towards the door. "Are you ready?"

"Yup. This should be fun." Nagisa grinned until Miyuki opened the door. The second Nagisa saw the students turn towards her, her smile faded and her hands clinched tightly, causing her knuckles to turn white again. Nagisa couldn't see it, but Tamao caught sight of her nervousness right away. She could swear she heard a giggle or two. _So many eyes on me again._ She took a deep breath, then followed behind Miyuki. _Strange. No one has eaten yet. Are they all planning to shout 'ITADAKIMASU!' at the same time? That would be the most awesome as well as the creepiest thing I'd have ever seen._ The amusing thought caused Nagisa to calm down almost instantly.

She followed Miyuki to the only three other students who were standing. She hadn't even realized that Tamao had parted from them until she looked to her side and saw no one there. "The transfer student is here to greet Etoile-sama." She said in her serious president tone. The three turned to face her and another woman who was sitting between them looked up at her as well. _Is she this Etoile-sama I've heard about? No offense, but I think Tamao is so much prettier._

"She's not here right now." The sitting student said as she rose to her feet. _Seriously? I guess the rumor about her absenteeism is true, at least. Maybe she's in the garden or out fighting crime. I feel like I should make a snarky comment, but it probably wouldn't end well for me._

"Hello there." A voice suddenly spoke up in her ear, causing Nagisa to jump forward and almost bump into Miyuki. _Sweet mother of Cthulu! I've just been greeted by a ninja!_ She quickly turned around to face her assailant, only to be greeted by a tall woman with long platinum hair. Well, it looked platinum. She couldn't really tell because of her shades. _How can someone be so sneaky when they have that much hair!  
><em>

"That's not a very proper greeting, you know." Nagisa said as her heart beat slowly returned to normal. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." She said, ending her statement with a sigh. It wasn't until now that she heard the excited whispers of the students. _Don't tell me… she's the… no way that the Etoile is a nin-why is she stepping closer?_ Nagisa took a step back when the two of them were only inches apart.

Before she could even register the movement, she felt the woman in front of her grab her arm and pull her closer. _Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell is this? _She could hear the excited gasps of surprise from the students around her. _What the hell is with these people? That's clearly a look of lust in her eyes! I'm about to get molested in front of the whole school and the students are excited about it! Damn it!_ She could feel her heart beating irregularly. It seemed like a panic attack was inevitable. _Shit! I need to think of something fast. I won't be taken advantage of! Oh hell, she's pulling me in closer._

Nagisa snaked her foot around the woman's leg and pushed the back of her ankle, causing the woman to have to quickly fix her footing before she lost her balance. Nagisa felt her grip loosen somewhat and quickly jerked out of her grasp. She twirled on her heel as she backed away and faced the woman with a cheeky grin. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't kiss on the first date." Several gasps filled the air, and Nagisa tried not to show her annoyance. _Damn useless background characters._ She glanced around and saw some students were angered by her actions, but others seemed amused. If she had to guess by appearance, it seemed like the younger students were mostly amused, and the ones around her age were mad. The older students didn't seem to have much reaction other than a few people that seemed to be shocked that she resisted her charms. _Apparently, I'm not the first person she's flirted with. How come I never heard _that_ rumor?_ She turned her attention to the woman that just tried to kiss her. Her smirk showed that she was amused, but her eyes reflected pain. _Huh? Did I hurt her feelings... or was the lust in her eyes just a cover for her pain? Either way, I won't be used as someone's play toy regardless of their circumstances._

"Shizuma-san, don't molest the new student." Miyuki said with anger in her voice. _Well that's certainly not something you hear everyday. Oh hey, Miyuki's got my back! She's such a good president. I wish she would have acted sooner though. Maybe she wanted to see if I could resist her myself?_ Shizuma turned her attention to Miyuki with a questioning look. Miyuki didn't say anything and just pointed at the clock with her thumb. _Now the molester looks disappointed._ Nagisa looked over at the clock as well. _Oh. It's almost seven._ She walked over to Tamao who led her to their seats. _You people can stop staring at me now. Seriously._ "Everyone, please be seated." Miyuki called out to the students as Nagisa took her seat. _Did people stand just to watch someone kiss me? The hell is wrong with this place?_

"Now please begin the prayer before dinner, Etoile-sama." Nagisa looked around. _Please tell me that she just showed up and that woman isn't really…_ She saw Shizuma stand up and begin the prayer. _Damn it. _Nagisa followed the example of those around her and closed her hands together and then her eyes.

_Grandfather, you sent me to a school where the most popular girl that represents all the students is a molester. This is not the quick road to recovery that you spoke of._


	4. Confusion and Frustration

Nagisa had been looking forward to dinner all day, but when it was finally time to eat, she had already lost her appetite. She wasted most of her time by just poking her food with the fork. The students around her tried to ask her a bunch of questions, mostly relating to how she got so close to Shizuma. Thank goodness for Tamao being able to pass Nagisa's unresponsiveness off as being shy to get the other students to back off. If they had persisted, Nagisa wouldn't have been able to keep her anger inside. She was armed with a fork, after all.

Once dinner was over, Tamao silently led the fuming Nagisa back to their dorm room. Once she was inside, Nagisa gave the room a quick look around. The distraction helped her calm down. _It looks like they already brought my stuff. Doesn't look damaged either. Hurray for positives._ Nagisa noticed that they each had their own bed, desk, and armoire. _The layout is pretty simple, but it's good enough._ Nagisa looked back at Tamao after hearing the door lock. As she had expected, Tamao had a concerned look on her face.

"Nagisa-chan, are you angry?" She asked her new friend, her voice reflecting the worry on her face.

"I'm furious, actually." Nagisa was almost surprised at how calm she sounded. _Well I guess I'm not _that _furious._ "I've calmed down a bit, apparently, but that woman pissed me off." Nagisa walked over to one of the boxes and started rummaging through it. Nagisa knew Tamao would ask why, so she sighed and decided to continue talking. "I don't see how someone like that could have the respect of all three schools and all the students within them. She's nothing but a lecher. I don't know if that's what made me mad, or the fact that hundreds of students just sat back and watched like it was the most entertaining thing in the world. At least Miyuki-san spoke up. I'm sure she would have said something whether I pulled away or not, but I suppose she was waiting to see if I would act first. It was the smart decision from her point of view because if I couldn't get away from _Shizuma_ the first time without outside interference, I probably never would." Nagisa made sure to say the woman's name with the most disgust she could muster. She pulled out her pajamas and lazily tossed them on the bed, then looked back at Tamao. "Since we're friends, I assume you were planning to interfere as well, right?"

"I'm sorry." That was totally not the response Nagisa was hoping for. "It's not that I didn't want to interfere, but I wasn't sure what to do. While I was thinking of what I should do, I saw you clench your fists and thought you were about to punch her. The idea shocked me and before I knew it you had twirled out of her arms. I'm pretty sure you're the first person to ever reject her. From what I've heard, even Rokujo-san hasn't been able to resist her and they've been friends since first year, or so the rumors go."

"The first one, eh? Well that would explain why no one bothered to interfere. Wait, does that mean you weren't able to resist her?" Nagisa asked without thinking. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"N-no. Luckily, the bell rung before she actually kissed me." _Luckily?_ Nagisa raised an eyebrow, indicating that she wanted Tamao to explain. "S-she's not my type, okay?" Tamao was blushing slightly as she walked past Nagisa. Nagisa grinned a little, tempted to ask what Tamao's type was, but decided to drop it.

"I won't ask anymore about that, but what I'm curious about is why she does it." Nagisa sat on the bed as she said it, looking up at Tamao. The blunette's strange reaction of looking away poked at Nagisa's curiosity. "Do you know something, Tamao-chan?"

There was a short delay before she received an answer. _Hesitation._ "I don't…" Tamao answered in a quieter tone. Another awkward silence filled the room. _She's making the same face as the last time we talked about her. Might as well give it a shot._ "Does it have something to do with why there is only one Etoile?" Tamao didn't answer, but Nagisa could see her stiffen.

_I see. Well, I already said I wouldn't ask Tamao about it anymore. I'll have to look for information from someone else tomorrow. Who would be my best bet? Well considering how few people I know, Miyuki would be the best choice. She _is _Shizuma's best friend, apparently. Wait. If they've been best friends since the year they started, why didn't they run together? Miyuki is clearly the responsible type and they _are_ best friends. Who would be a better person for Shizuma to run with? The only option that would be preferred over your clearly qualified best friend would be a… lover? _

Nagisa leaned back to rest her head on the mattress and stare quietly at the ceiling. With her sunglasses on, Tamao couldn't tell whether she was thinking or just staring. _That would be a logical explanation. If someone lost their lover, it isn't surprising for someone to try to fill the hole in their heart with random flings. If that's true, then asking Miyuki will prove fruitless. I'll need some sort of leverage if I'm going to get such private information out of her. Well there's nothing I can do about it tonight. I've already made things awkward for Tamao._

Nagisa suddenly shot back up to her feet and looked to where she thought Tamao was. "Eh? She left." _Did she go to the bathroom? Meh. Guess I'll get changed._ Nagisa tossed the clothes she was wearing aside and threw on her 'pajamas' which were just a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt with the word "Twisted" written on it, the letters designed to look like rope. Nagisa closed her eyes as she removed her sunglasses and put on a pair of shaded goggles.

Tamao walked back in a few minutes later in a pair of blue pajamas. "Welcome back." Nagisa said, sitting at the desk and brushing her hair while looking in a mirror.

"…goggles?" Tamao asked with interest as she shut the door.

"Sunglasses can fall off or break when sleeping if you turn your head the wrong way." Nagisa answered, tossing the brush aside and stretching. _I should stop tossing things. I'm gonna end up breaking something._ "Cute pajamas, by the way."

"Yours aren't so bad yourself, Twisted-chan." Tamao returned the teasing with a grin. She sat down and looked at Nagisa with a frown. "You're going to wear wristbands to bed?"

_Weird. She dismissed the goggles without asking why I wear them. She really did hear what I said to Miyuki and the Sister before she knocked on the door. _Nagisa looked down at her wrists and nodded her head. "Yeah, it's become a habit of mine since I was about nine. I can't sleep without them now. Well, not these ones in particular but wristbands in general. I have some blue ones if you want any." Nagisa offered with a fake smile.

"It's sweet, but I'll have to pass." _Instant rejection!_

Nagisa frowned. "Your loss." She walked back to her own bed and plopped down on it. "What happens if you get caught outside your room after lights out?" _I'm going to have nightmares, I just know it._

"You get one of the Head Sister's lovely lectures." Tamao replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm, earning a sigh of disappointment from Nagisa. "Were you planning to sneak out?"

"I don't have the intention right now, but I certainly can't deny that I won't do it in the future." Nagisa answered as she got up to flip the lights off. She got back in her bed and stared silently at the ceiling. Things were quiet for a few minutes before she heard movement from Tamao's bed.

"Hey, Nagisa-chan." She spoke in a quiet voice.

"Yeah?" Nagisa turned her head to look at Tamao, but she couldn't make out any features in the dark.

"Can I…Can I see your eyes?" _Well that's a weird request. Oh wait. I was right!_

"So you did hear me tell Miyuki about my photophobia, didn't you?" Nagisa could barely see the movement of Tamao nodding her head. She sighed and got up. "Well I don't really mind, I guess." She walked over to the curtain and made sure they let in as little light as possible as Tamao sat up. Nagisa walked back over to Tamao and grinned. "Try not to scream." She closed her eyes before pulling her goggles up to her forehead, and then slowly opened her eyes.

Tamao stared into Nagisa's eyes silently for a minute or two. _This feels so awkward. Say something Tamao!_ And then Tamao smiled. "Your eyes are beautiful." _Yeah, that's what they all- wait, what?_ Tamao could see Nagisa's surprise and chuckled. "I'm serious. I've never seen bright orange eyes before. In the dark, they're positively glowing, like they're on fire. It's stunning." _Thank you darkness for concealing the otherwise obvious blush on my face._

"Th-thank you. No one's ever said that about my eyes before." _But in my defense, people don't usually ask to see them either._

"No, thank you for showing them to me." Tamao smiled. Nagisa couldn't say anything and just nodded her head like an idiot before pulling her goggles down. "Goodnight, Nagisa-chan." Tamao said as she laid back down.

"R-right. Goodnight." Nagisa replied as she got back in bed and stared at the ceiling again. She wasn't sure when but she eventually dozed off.

* * *

><p>Nagisa's body started jerking back and forth violently as she slept. "No…" She could feel something holding her down as she frantically struggled to escape. "NO!" She screamed before her eyes shot open. She quickly sat up and looked around the room. Nagisa sighed with relief after realizing she was in her new dorm room. She grumbled when she saw the time on the clock. <em>That dream usually wakes me up earlier than this.<em> She looked over at Tamao's bed. _Tamao's not here? I guess it's a good thing she's an early riser. I don't want to answer her questions… _

Nagisa rose to her feet to take a shower before returning to her room and sitting on her bed. She was tempted to lay back down until something dark caught her attention. At the foot of her bed was one of Miator's uniforms. _That was fast._ She quickly changed into her uniform without much difficulty, then swapped out her goggles for sunglasses. _I bet Tamao would have offered to help me change. I wonder if she's just a tease or another pervert. It doesn't look like she tried anything last night, so I guess she's a tease._ _Oh well. The uniform looks good. I feel like my social status has increased by twenty percent._

Nagisa tossed her wristbands to the side. _I can't wear those with the cuffs on this uniform. Good thing I brought something else just in case._ Nagisa rummaged through one of the unpacked boxes to grab some medical bandages. She wrapped it around her wrists and half way up to her elbows. Just as she finished, she heard the door open as Tamao walked in.

"Oh. You're already up? I was hoping I could enjoy my Nagisa-chan's sleeping face for a few more minutes." Tamao said with a disappointed tone. _My? She's really just a tease… right?_ Nagisa laughed nervously, but she had no idea if Tamao was kidding or not. "Are you injured?" Her tone quickly changed to concern as she ran closer to Nagisa.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I told you last night that I always wear wristbands, right? Well I can't wear them under this uniform, so I went with something thinner. I always have to wear something over my wrists. I've been told it's OCD, but I doubt that's actually true." _That sounded more convincing than I expected. I really need to be more careful though._ Tamao just nodded her head, but she still looked concern. _She accepted that answer, but she didn't really believe me._

"How much time do we have until breakfast? I'm hungry." Nagisa asked as she tied her hair back.

"We've still got about twenty minutes."

Nagisa grinned. "So if I hadn't woken up on my own, we would have been late because Tamao-chan would have been watching her Nagisa-chan sleeping, eh?" She looked over her shoulder at Tamao and was rewarded with the blunette's blush.

"N-no. I would have woken you up in about five minutes…maybe." Tamao felt embarrassed when she saw that Nagisa didn't believe her.

"Mhm." Nagisa shook her head. "Anyway, let's go. I crave nourishment." She pulled her sleeves down over the bandages as she walked to the door and opened it. Tamao frowned and followed Nagisa into the hall. Breakfast was an uninteresting event. Nagisa was thankful that she and Tamao managed to get to their seats before the Etoile showed up, but seeing her and Miyuki enter the cafeteria redirected Nagisa's thoughts towards what she was wondering last night. Nagisa remained quiet until she suddenly receive a round of applause from the others at her table for finishing her meal in under a minute. "Oh, ha ha people. Very funny."

Tamao led Nagisa to their classroom after eating. Nagisa was mumbling something about other people being smart asses and that they were just eating too slow, causing Tamao to chuckle. As they entered the classroom, Tamao greeted the class with a "Good morning" and then-

_Holy shit!_ Every student in the class rose to their feet and ran to the two roommates as they entered. _I thought this only happened in anime! No wait, at least anime characters would have enough patience to wait until I was sitting at my desk before surrounding me._ "Is it really true that you rejected Etoile-sama? No one's ever rejected her before!" One of the students asked with too much enthusiasm. _Really? I guess Tamao has some good sources for her rumors._

"Uh…yeah." Nagisa was feeling uncomfortable with this many students surrounding her all of a sudden.

"How do you know about that?" She heard Tamao ask. _How? Don't all students eat at the same time? Is it just students who live in the dorm that eat there? I suppose the dorm really isn't big enough to house all the students from all three schools. I wonder why that never occurred to me before now. Hell, that would explain how all these students got here before us when I was the first to finish eating. Damn, I feel like an idiot for not realizing this sooner._

"Everyone has been talking about it." _Why? Damn rumors._ "The news has already spread all over campus." _Stop mocking me, Gods!_

"How did you do it?" Another student spoke up. _Is it really that hard?_ "Etoile-sama got so close to you even though you just transferred in, and you rejected her. It's amazing!" Nagisa could hear another student mention that she was jealous, but the whole thing was ridiculous.

_The rumors are already going to over-exaggerate things no matter what I do, so screw it._ "I won't deny that Etoile-sama is a beautiful person, but I resisted her because she's not my type." Nagisa said with a shrug. _It's not the real reason, but it's technically not a lie either._ She could hear a few gasps of surprise and some people asking 'Really?' or saying 'No way!' or 'Amazing!' _Sometimes I hate people. Is the Etoile really that popular even though she apparently half-asses her duty? Whatever, I gotta deal with this first._ "Um… class is about to start. You guys wouldn't want to get in trouble, would you? I'm pretty sure Etoile-sama wouldn't be happy about that, right?" The group seemed to all nod their head in unison and go back to their seats. _I could make a sheeple joke here and I'm really tempted to._

The classes were as boring as Nagisa had expected them to be. The worst was obviously French, where she didn't understand a single word that was said throughout the entire lecture. _I'm really hoping Miyuki comes through for me. Otherwise, I'm screwed._

Nagisa's suffering was quickly ended when lunch time rolled around. _The sweets here are perfect! Bless ye Gods!_ Tamao stared at Nagisa somewhat in disbelief. She had seen how quickly Nagisa could eat before, but she had never seen someone go through cake at such an alarming speed before. "Wow Nagisa-chan. Do you like sweets?"

Nagisa raised an eyebrow, and then looked down at her empty plate. She rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously. "You could say that." She looked away. "The cake here is good so I think my actions are justified." Tamao held out her plate to offer Nagisa some of her food, but Nagisa shook her head. "I don't run track anymore so I'll just get fat." She frowned when Tamao laughed.

"Have you thought about joining the track club here? It's in Spica, but there's no rule that says you can't join a club in another school, though most people usually don't." Tamao suggested. Nagisa crossed her arms in thought.

"I'm not sure yet. I wasn't really planning on joining another track club." Nagisa answered. _Did Tamao's eyes just light up?_

"Is there anything else that you like to do?"

"Play the piano, I suppose." The shocked look on Tamao's face was priceless.

"Nagisa-chan can play the piano?" _I don't know whether or not to be proud or hurt by the surprise in her voice._

"Yeah. When I was younger, I spend a lot of time with my grandfather. Due to his job, he often had to go to some fancy high class parties. When I was a kid, everything about me other than my long hair screamed that I was a tomboy, so I learned to play the piano to give me an apparent 'ladylike' quality. Well, that's what he told me anyway." Nagisa grinned at the memory. "He used to have to beg me to play something like Chopin at those parties because he knew that if it was up to me, I'd play something from an anime." Tamao seemed a little more surprised but she laughed regardless. "I don't think I'll join a music club though. It's more for fun and playing whatever random song comes to my head."

"Then why not join our literature club?" Tamao asked with hopeful enthusiasm. _Literature club? Oh that can't end well for me._ _How are the two even related? _Nagisa raised an eyebrow. "I really love writing poetry. There's a meeting today. Do you want to come with me?"

_Well that explains what brought it up and why her eyes lit up earlier. She seems like she really wants me to come. Still…_ "I don't know. The only thing I'm worse at than poetry is French, and the only thing I'm worse at than French is French poetry."

Tamao frowned for a moment, but then she smiled again. "I plan to present my poem today. It'd be great if you came to support me." _Huh? Why me? I know she's trying to get me to see the club, but we only met and became friends yesterday. How could I support her? Ah, screw it. If I don't have to make a poem, that's good enough for me._

Nagisa nodded her head. "Alright. I got your back." _That sounded stupid and I now regret saying it. Oh well, Tamao smiled._

"Really? Thank you, Nagisa-chan!" Nagisa could swear that Tamao would have glomped her if there wasn't a table between them. She raised an eyebrow in confusion when Tamao looked off to the side and stood up. "Tougi-sama, Kanou-sama" _Who?_ Nagisa turned her head to face them. _Ah. Those two were at the dinner yesterday waiting for the Etoile. Are they on the student council as well?_ "Is the Etoile not with you?" _Please dear merciful Cthulu! Please tell me she isn't._

"No." _Thank you, Cthulu! _"She was invited to Miatre, Spica, and Lulim Academy's student council lunch meeting." _Is that so? 1,000 yen says she's skipping it like I've heard she's been skipping her other duties. Why did Tamao ask about her?_

Nagisa turned back to Tamao after the two women left. "Is that one of the meetings that you mentioned the Etoile are responsible for attending?" She asked and Tamao replied with a nod. "Well based on the rumor, how much do you want to bet she doesn't show up? I have 1,000 yen. You?"

"N-Nagisa-chan! You shouldn't say things like that out loud!" Tamao said frantically, waving her arms in the air. _That's so cute._ Nagisa just grinned and shrugged.

A few minutes passed while Tamao gave Nagisa a lecture about not disrespecting the Etoile in public because you don't know who could be listening and blah blah blah. Nagisa waited for Tamao to finish before crossing her arms and looking away with a fake pout. "Sheesh, Tamao-chan. I didn't know you were next in line to be the Head Sister." Nagisa said to which Tamao could only reply with a startled 'Eh?'

When Nagisa looked back to tease Tamao, something behind her caught her eye. "Hey look. It's Miyuki-san." She pointed behind Tamao, causing the blunette to turn around. "She's with those two that came by earlier." Tamao nodded her head.

"I wonder what happened." Tamao mumbled as she turned to look back at Nagisa.

"I think you owe me 1,000 yen, that's what." Nagisa grinned. _If the president isn't at the student council meeting, it can only be because someone important to the meeting didn't show up. What the hell is that Shizuma chick doing?_ She didn't even hear Tamao whine her name and ask 'what did I just say?'

The rest of the day was just as uneventful as the morning classes. It wasn't until classes were over that Tamao took Nagisa to the literature club and read her poem to everyone. _I'll never understand how clever someone has to be to come up with a poem like that. I wonder if she'll go on to be a writer or something. It was so good that everyone wanted her to read it a second time. Wait. What's that about it being about a deep love with no result? I must be just as bad as interpreting poetry as I am at making it. I didn't get that out of it at all. I'm glad no one asked my opin-why is everyone looking at me? Please tell me they don't want my opinion!_ "…eh?"

"Would you like to share a poem with us?" The woman, who Nagisa assumed was the leader of the club, asked. _That's worse than asking for an interpretation!_

Nagisa shook her head and held her hands up defensively. "Oh! No, no, no. I'm not good at writing poetry!" _I thought I wouldn't have to write anything! Oh, Tamao is giving me an apologetic look. I guess she didn't expect them to ask. I'll forgive you this time, Tamao._

"We aren't here to judge you. Try thinking of an image or a scene and describe something about it." Another member said. Nagisa took a deep breath before rising to her feet. _Describe an image or scene?_ Nagisa thought for a moment before the image of a hospital bed appeared in her mind. She lowered her head, causing her bangs to shadow her glasses.

"Beep. Beep.

That constant repetition

How long must it continue?

Beep. Beep.

A steady, never ending pace

Why must you taunt me?

Beep. Beep.

The mechanistic tone repeats again

Will this sound never cease?

Beep. Beep.

It is ever so persistent

Will someone please end this beeping?

Beeeeep.

The long monotonous beep ceased its repetition

This is a joke, right?

Beeeeep.

The sound is unending.

Why did this have to happen?

Beep.

The plug has been pulled.

Why did you have to die?

Please, beep once more."

Nagisa sat back down. _They're going to laugh. I know they're going to laugh. They're so going to…clap?_ Nagisa looked up at the literature club members as they applauded her poem. _Is that a tear in Tamao's eye?_ "That was beautiful, Nagisa-chan." One of the members said. _You're joking, right? I know everyone is their own worst critic, but there's no way that was good. That's not even an actual poem. It was just the stupid things that went through my mind back then combined with my regrets._ Nagisa didn't hear what the leader interpreted it as but she didn't respond. She heard something about not knowing what you have until it's gone or something. Someone else said it was about how paying attention to the minor details would make someone lose sight of what's really important. She didn't really care. It wasn't a poem to her; it was a memory.


	5. Parents

Nagisa left the literature club with some bullshit excuse about needing time to think about whether or not she would join their club. In reality, she just felt completely awkward after telling such a 'poem'. _Why did I have to think back to that incident of all things?_ Nagisa furiously wiped away the tears that poked at the corner of her eyes. _Even worse, I actually said it in poem form. Am I an idiot? I think Tamao was the only one who knew it wasn't a poem. I really hope she doesn't ask me about it. No, we're friends. She'll obviously ask me about it._

"Etoile-sama…" A voice said weakly behind the trees. _What the hell?_ Nagisa walked towards the trees quietly. She looked through the trees into a small clearing and saw Shizuma holding another girl against a tree. _You have got to be shitting me. Isn't she supposed to be with the student council right now? Is she always spending her time flirting with any girl that will look at her?_

Nagisa tried to suppress her rage. _This woman is really pissing me off. She's making things difficult for Miyuki and the others just because she likes playing with girls. Well, I guess I could use a distraction. Hey, a twig.__ Time for some misplaced aggression._ She looked up at Shizuma as she stepped on the twig, and then hid behind the strangely wide tree. _That's the loudest twig I've ever heard!_ Seriously. What was up with that twig in the anime? It was louder than the freaking horse. Oh right. Story time. My bad.

Shizuma turned in the direction of the snap only to see trees and bushes. She smirked and turned to the girl who seemed to be surprised by the sudden sound. "E-excuse me!" She quickly ran off, her face burning a bright crimson from her embarrassment. Nagisa waited for the girl to run off before she stepped out from behind the tree and walked into the clearing.

"Are you out of your damn mind? Do you know how many people are waiting for you right now?" _Do you? Cause I really don't. I'm gonna guess ten._ "You have a responsibility to take care of, yet here you are in the woods, making out with any girl that will give you the time of day." Shizuma just smirked at her pissed off kouhai. _That grin gets on my nerves. What the hell is she smiling for?_

"You wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you?" Her confident smirk quickly vanished when Nagisa burst into a laughing fit.

"Jealous? Are you serious?" _Is she that damn cocky? _She held her sides as she laughed. "You must be joking." She straightened herself back up. "Why the hell would anyone be jealous of a woman who is so lonely that she has to fill the hole in her heart by flirting with anything that breathes?" Nagisa felt hands grab her arm and push her back into a tree. _I expected anger, but I didn't think she'd get physical. I should stop being impulsive, but it's too late now._

"You should watch what you say or you might forget it." The furrowed brows and the gritted teeth were certainly a different look on Shizuma.

In other circumstances, Nagisa was sure that she'd start to panic; however, she felt surprisingly calm. It was probably because she was being threatened by a woman who probably didn't have it in her heart to bring pain to other girls. It could also be because she had never seen Shizuma go past kissing a girl, and didn't think the senpai had it in her heart to let things go further than that. _Still, I need to get away from her before this gets ugly._

Thinking quickly, Nagisa leaned her head closer to Shizuma's, then moved past it and whispered into her ear. "You must be kidding." Nagisa's voice was calm- too calm. "I've experienced a hell far worse than anything you do could ever compare to." She wasn't sure if it was her words, the way she said them, or how coldly she said them that made Shizuma back off, but it worked.

The Etoile took a step back and crossed her arms under her chest. "What on Earth happened to you?" _I guess she does care about people, but she sure doesn't know how to show it._

"I could ask you the same thing." Nagisa replied without missing a beat. For a brief moment, Shizuma had a look of pain on her face. _There's that look again. __I should stop now. Any further antagonizing is only going to come back and bite me in the ass._ Nagisa stepped away from the tree and turned back to the path. "Exactly." She said before leaving the clearing.

_I'm going to have to do something about this. I don't really care that much about what happened to Shizuma in the past, but I can't just leave that pained look alone. She's also causing trouble for Miyuki and right now, she's one of the only two friends I have. It looks like I'm going to have to overlap my recovery with hers or we're both screwed. I won't be able to talk to Shizuma about it. I need to find that leverage and get Miyuki to spill the beans._ Nagisa sighed in annoyance and looked out towards the library. "Maybe reading will clear my mind a bit."

Nagisa silently walked to the library. _It's kind of weird. The schools seem so clean, but the library is covered in moss, vines, and some other crap I can't even identify. _ She walked past the front desk and started looking through the first few books she came too. _There are way too many books here. The chances of me finding one that would be useful or entertaining at random are slim to-oh look! French For Dummies. How appropriate._ Nagisa swiped the book off the shelf and flipped through it briefly. _This should help me until I get those notes from Miyuki._ Nagisa stopped and looked at the book again. _Of course, if I screw things up with her and Shizuma, I'm certainly not going to get those notes. _

Nagisa sighed and looked up at the counter only to see that no one was there. _Was the girl that the Etoile was making out with the librarian? That's…hilarious, but I can't borrow this book until she comes back._ Nagisa sighed and continued to walk around to kill some time. As she walked around, Nagisa couldn't help but notice all the couples reading together. _I still can't get used to that. How is something like that so common here when it's so hated in most of the world?_

"Wah!" A cry came out from a few aisles over, pulling Nagisa out of her distracted state of mind. _The hell was that?_ Nagisa followed the cry and found a girl sitting on the floor, surrounded by books. _How does a book land so perfectly on top of someone's head? Is she a first year? Or maybe she's a second year? Either way, I better help her._

Nagisa set her book down as she knelt down and started picking the books up into a pile. "Are you alright? You shouldn't carry more books than you can handle." _Don't they have carts for this kind of thing?_

"S-sorry! I…" _Wow, I've never met such a shy person before. She's blushing too. I bet this isn't the first time this has happened._

"You don't need to apologize. I'm just a passerby with convenient timing." Nagisa said and lifted the book off the kouhai's head. "Come on. I'll help you put these up." The girl was about to protest, but Nagisa gave her a reassuring smile as she read the title of the book on top of the stack she was holding. "Where does this one go?"

Nagisa spend the next twenty minutes or so helping the klutz of a librarian put books away. _She fell… three times… in twenty minutes. Anime is reflecting itself in my reality. I bet her roommate is a yandere or something. Yeah, I'm gonna bet 1,000 yen that I meet a yandere before the school year ends._ Nagisa took her French book with her as the two went back to the front desk.

"H-huh? There was supposed to be another librarian here…" The underclassman mumbled. _Ha! That girl really was the librarian!_

"She might have had to go do some French." _French kissing._ "Speaking of French, I wanna borrow this book." The girl nodded her head excessively as she ran behind the counter. _Hey is that…_ "You know, there's a cart right there that you could have used to put those books up."

"Huh? Oh. Ah…I thought I could handle that many without it…" _I don't even know what to say to that. I'd call her clumsy, but she doesn't seem to have very much self-esteem either._

"Even if it doesn't seem like much, you should still use it. It'd be bad if you ended up getting her. Seriously, I'm going to worry about you getting hurt now." _You know what else is serious? I use the word seriously too much, seriously._

"S-sorry!" _She's literally oozing excess nervousness. Hey! I didn't use seriously that time. Wait. Damn it!_ "A-and thank you." She added in a quieter voice. _Okay, I didn't expect that. How cute._ Nagisa smiled and pat her on the shoulder before taking her book and walking back to the dorms.

_Aww. I should have asked for her name. I could have made a new friend._ As soon as Nagisa got back to her room, she sat down at her desk and immediately started studying the book. She wasn't going to learn a thing from class at this rate, so she knew she had to hit the books hard. At least, that's the excuse she told herself. Nagisa wasn't really in the mood to study, but it was a much better option to her than the conversation she would be dreading to have with Tamao when she came back.

_Tamao is a good friend already, so she's definitely going to ask something. I don't want to say anything, but it feels wrong to keep lying to everyone. Will every friendship I build here be based off of the web of lies I string together? I think the only thing I've been honest about is my photophobia, joining track and playing the piano. Is that really it? Well, I wasn't lying when I said I was worried about that girl in the library getting hurt, but I don't even know her name. I wonder how many times even my smiles were lies. Wow. I'm an awful friend, aren't I? I know I'm going to keep lying in the future, but I should really try and cut back, at least to those two and any new friends I make. Otherwise, I have no right to call these people my friends._

Nagisa's thoughts drifted off after that and her focused returned to studying for French. Things were quiet for a few hours before the door opened, signaling Tamao's return. She walked over to Nagisa and looked over her shoulder. "Did you learn anything?"

"Bonjour!" She replied, looking up at Tamao with a grin.

"Nagisa-chan…did you really not even know how to greet someone in French before you transferred here?"

"I knew nothing at all before I came here. Oh, wait. Scratch that. I didn't even know the word 'nothing' in French before I got here. In fact, I still don't know it. So I didn't even know nothing before I came here." _Too honest?_ Nagisa said as she looked back at her book. There were several sheets of notes and scribbles tossed around her desk.

"You're really serious about your studies, aren't you?" Tamao asked. _I sense so much teasing in that question._

Nagisa nodded her head. "I told Miyuki-san that I would be ready for midterms and I meant it. Even if she can't get me those notes, I'm still going to try."

"Would you like me to help?" _I can only imagine how much teasing I would experience for that._

"No thanks. I'd feel bad if I brought Tamao-chan's grades down because she was tutoring me." Tamao didn't seem to argue, but she picked up the sloppily tossed papers and stacked them together on Nagisa's desk. There was an awkward silence after that with the exception of the scribbling of a pencil on paper. _She's contemplating whether or not she should ask me about the poem. She's probably too nervous to bring it up, but she'll manage to get it out sooner or later._

A few more minutes of silence passed before Tamao spoke up. "Nagisa-chan…" The redhead looked up at Tamao with an emotionless expression. "Um…about that poem earlier…" Tamao's nervousness was clearly visible as she was obviously conflicted about whether or not she should be bringing it up.

"Yes?" Nagisa gave no hint of annoyance, nor did she pretend to act innocent or oblivious. _I guess she's going to bring it up sooner. You have to ask the question if you want the answer._

"It wasn't something you just made up off the top of your head, was it? It was about someone who… died, wasn't it?"

Nagisa turned around and stared silently at her desk for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes."

The silence that followed was maddening. Nagisa was tempted to turn around to gauge Tamao's reaction, but she couldn't bring herself to move. "What happened?"

Nagisa set her pencil down, stood up and faced Tamao. "Do you really want to know?" Tamao answered with a determined look as she nodded her head. "Very well." Nagisa leaned against the desk and closed her eyes. _It's been ten years. I should be ready to talk about this with someone other than grandfather._ Nagisa opened her eyes and looked at Tamao who was sporting a serious expression.

"_It happened a little over ten years ago on my sixth birthday. Everything about that morning is still clear to me. I can remember the sundress my mother was wearing, the khakis and plaid shirt my father wore and the shorts and t-shirt that I wore. I was a tomboy, after all. I was so excited that morning because it was the first time I'd get to ride in the front seat of the car. My parents were pretty protective and always made me sit in the back, but now that I was six, my time had come. In the end, that random decision to let me sit in the passenger seat is what saved me. _

_I remember during the car ride that my parents spent most of it talking to each other while I was listening to whatever song was on the radio. I'm pretty sure the actual songs that came on are the only things I don't remember. My mother kept pausing to tease me about being one step closer to an adult, which just made me laugh. I think I was very easily amused when I was young. It wasn't long into the drive that everything went wrong. _

_I don't know if it was because the driver was drunk or he fell asleep at the wheel, but an 18-wheeler swerved off the road into oncoming traffic. I don't know the technical term for it, but he rammed the side of our car on the side both my parents were sitting on. The force of the impact knocked us off the road and sent our car spiraling down a hill._

_Everything had gone still when I regained consciousness. No matter how many times I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything. I felt something wet on my face and parts of my body and began to panic when I realized it was blood. I panicked and tried to move, but my body wouldn't wouldn't obey. I was later told that something like a large branch had broken through the window and pierced my shoulder, pinning me to my seat. I also had a few broken bones and several cuts all over my body._

_At the time, that was the least of my concern. Despite how much pain I was in, I started calling out for my parents. If they could answer me, that meant they were still alive. I called out to them several times until they answered me._

_They never answered. _

_I don't know how long I sat there bleeding, but I eventually passed out. I awoke several days later in the hospital, hooked up to those machines I never learned the names of. I panicked at first because everything was dark, but a nurse eventually helped me calm down. I can't remember how she did it though. She told me that everything was dark because there were bandages over my eyes. She tried to explain what had happened to my eyes but I was too young to understand the explanation, and now it's been so long that I can't remember a word she said. Whatever had happened to them is why I have photophobia. I assume that something hit my eyes during the wreck and damaged the retina, but that's just a guess. I honestly don't have the slightest clue anymore and I really don't care about such a minor detail.  
><em>

_Anyway, the only other damage I had was a cracked rib, a broken right arm and a hole in my left shoulder from the tree. Everything else was just a minor scratch and bruise, though I was told that there were several branches that stabbed around me that could have killed me if they were a few centimeters closer. I don't think that's the kind of thing you tell a kid. Still, none of this was really important to me. All I would reply with is asking what happened to my parents, but no one ever answered me. They kept saying I should worry about my own recovery first. _

_I didn't really have a frame for time since I couldn't see anything, but I think it was about a week before the bandages came off my eyes. I had to start wearing protection over my eyes like I do now, but I was at least able to walk around. I guess my rib was healed as well, or I was so doped up on painkillers that I just didn't feel anything. Either way, I didn't feel anything at the time so I had completely forgotten about it._

_It was at this time that they finally let me see my father. He was in his own room, hooked up to more machines than I was. The doctor told me that he had been in a coma since the accident. I was relieved though, because he hadn't died. My relief didn't last long though. When I asked about my mother, the doctor didn't look at me and I immediately knew something was wrong._

_By the time the paramedics arrived, my mother was already dead. _

_I cried. I don't know how long, but I cried until I couldn't cry anymore and I passed out. I spent the next few days just waiting by my father's side, hoping that he would wake up. I hardly ate or slept to the point that the nurses would have to drag me out of the room to make sure that I did. _

_Several more days had passed and there was no improvement in my father's condition. I'm pretty sure I was starting to lose it. No, I'm fairly sure I was. I had started talking to myself while I sat by his side. I still do, actually. On that day, I was arguing with myself about whether he would ever wake up, and the last thing I said was that I wish that damn beeping would stop._

_It did._

_I thought it was some sort of cruel joke by some sick ass deity. Then I felt like my anger had just killed my father. Everything after that is pretty much a blur. I eventually moved to America to live with my grandfather. I don't think I spoke for over a year. My grandfather had tried to get me to open up, but I remained unresponsive. I think he saw me tapping the keys on his piano one day and decided to teach me how to play it. I really did enjoy learning to play it and that's probably what finally made me speak again. Well, I suppose that's not what you were asking about."_

Nagisa stopped speaking and looked over at Tamao. She noticed the two of them were sitting on Tamao's bed but Nagisa didn't put too much thought into it, even though she didn't recall ever sitting down. The tears in Tamao's eyes were expected, but Nagisa didn't see the hug coming. _She's trying to comfort me, I think. It's been ten years. I won't keep crying over it anymore._ Nagisa wrapped an arm around Tamao.

"Thank you for telling me. I know it couldn't have been easy." Tamao whispered after a minute.

"It wasn't, but it felt good to be able to talk about it with someone after all this time." Nagisa answered. _Maybe one day I'll be able to talk about what happened last year. One step at a time, Nagisa. One step at a time._ "So then, why don't you tell me a little about your parents, Tamao-chan?" Tamao backed out of the hug and gave Nagisa a confused look. "I'll tell you more about my parents if you tell me about yours." She offered with a smile- a real smile. Tamao returned the smile and nodded her head. The two roommates spent the rest of the night talking about their families until they eventually fell asleep.


	6. Leverage

**Author's Notes Thingamajig: I hope you all enjoyed whichever holiday you celebrate and if you don't celebrate any then I hope you had a lovely December. I thought I'd give one of these author note things a try to thank everyone who has been following the story so far. I also thought I should say that if any reader has a question about something I wrote or if something I said doesn't make sense, feel free to ask and I'll try to put some of my lovely logic into my illogical writings. **

**thundergodess13- I don't know what a V-double truck is. When Nagisa mentions the 18 wheeler, she's referring to one of those semi-trailer trucks- one of those large trucks with the huge cargo trailer on the back. The one that hit their vehicle didn't have a trailer attached, but Nagisa didn't actually see the truck hit. Everything about the wreck that she knows was explained to her at some point by the police. She was knocked unconscious when the car was knocked off the road and was blinded when she was temporarily awake and pinned to the seat. I know I didn't make all of this clear in the last chapter and I wish I did. My bad. Forgive me? **

**On a lighter note, special thanks to Obsidian And Cobalt, teufelchen29, RastaLioness, lord onion123, XxBloodWolfxX, MakenaiRaven, madrox23, and thundergodess13 for your awesome reviews. Readers like you keep me motivated.**

**Not that those who don't review don't make me motivated or anything. You're all great. (vo_o)b**

**Anyway, here's chapter six. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The chirping of birds woke Nagisa the next morning. She sat up and stretched contently. <em>No nightmare last night. I haven't slept that well in a long time.<em> She leaned back, keeping herself up by placing her hands behind her. _Huh? I feel something soft._ Nagisa turned her head and saw that she had grabbed Tamao's… hand. What did you think it was, you pervert? _W-w-what? _Nagisa looked around the room frantically. _Why am I sleeping in Tamao's bed__?_ Nagisa thought back to last night's events. _I was talking to her about what happened ten years ago, then we started talking about our parents and I guess we just fell asleep. _

Nagisa heard and felt movement behind her. _She's waking up! ABANDON SHIP!_ Nagisa quickly pulled her hand back, causing her to fall off the bed. _When did I get so close to the edge?_ As Tamao stirred, Nagisa quickly got to her feet and acted like she was stretching. "Good morning, Nagisa-chan." Tamao mumbled as she sat up.

"Good morning." Nagisa replied as she started getting ready. "Another day with French." She whined when she saw her notes scattered on the desk. Tamao chuckled as she started getting ready as well. After the two of them were in uniform and ready to go, they stepped into the hall and heard the door next to them shut.

"Good morning Nagisa-chan, Tamao-chan." An energetic brunette called out as she and a taller, half-asleep girl with purple hair approached them. _They look familiar. I could swear I saw them yesterday. Where was it? During dinner? Nah, that never lasts more than two minutes. I wouldn't remember them from that. I don't think they were in the library or the literature club. _

"Good morning. We're in the same class, aren't we?" Nagisa asked. _If they're not, I must be losing it._

"Yes, that's right." _Hell yeah! I'm still sane, baby!._ "I'm Chihaya and this is Mizushima." _That's a surprise. She didn't use honorifics with Mizushima. I wonder if there are some juicy rumors behind that. Mizushima looks like she didn't want to wake up this morning. I know that feeling._

"Good morning, Chihaya-chan, Mizushima-chan." She greeted along with Tamao as the four of them walked to class. As they headed into Miator, the girls saw an annoyed Miyuki talking to Tougi and Kanou. _I don't even know if that's their first or last name. Probably last name since Tamao still refers to Miyuki by Rokujo. I should try to figure out their names sometime. More importantly, Miyuki has the same annoyed look as yesterday. It looks like Shizuma has disappeared after breakfast. Poor Miyuki. She's gonna lose it one of these days. Even more importantly, I just now realized that we missed breakfast this morning! What sort of tragedy is this? It must be an ill omen.  
><em>

Classes were the same boring routine as yesterday with Nagisa cursing this school for requiring French as well as English. _Any other school would have been fine with only teaching English. I can ace that, but nooooo, this school wants us to know _three_ languages._

During the much desired lunch, which only took Nagisa just under a minute to finish, Miator's student council was spotted running around once again. "It looks like the Etoile hasn't shown up for another meeting." Tamao commented, seemingly uninterested as she was distracted by how quickly Nagisa finished her meal.

"You know, the Etoile has been showing up on time for the breakfast and dinner prayers, but she doesn't go to any of the student council meetings. It's like she cares about her title just enough to keep up public appearances, but she won't do anything behind closed doors." Nagisa stated as she took one of the sandwiches Tamao offered her. _This campus is big enough that I can justify eating more with walking. Hell yeah! Foolproof logic. _

"I wonder why that is." Tamao replied. Nagisa just nodded her head, but she had a few ideas in mind. _She clearly doesn't care about the title anymore or what the job represents, but she can't let herself not do the job completely for some reason. It could be that she doesn't want the other students to be affected, or she could be doing minimal effort for Miyuki's sake, but either way, that contradicts itself and makes things worse if she doesn't go to the meetings. If it has been like this the entire time, someone should have noticed it by now. Is it recent behavior, or is something going on where they would need her more? I wonder if there's a big decision that needs to be made or if there's some event that's going to occur soon. _

The rest of the week remained uneventful. Nagisa gave up her search on joining a club in order to study French. Thanks to Tamao's ever so resourceful ability to gather information, Nagisa found out that there really was an event coming up. Apparently, on Monday morning there would be an event that welcomed new first year students that lived in the dorms. She didn't bother asking Tamao for the details after hearing that the Etoile was expected to make an appearance. _She's expected to, but will she? Judging by Miyuki's increasing stress, it's not very likely._

Sunday rolled around and Nagisa intended to spend the entire day studying French. Well, that _was_ her intention until Tamao convinced her to hang out with her, Chihaya and Mazushima. Priorities, right? The four girls headed down to the lounge and spent the morning engaging in girl talk and Nagisa loved it. She hadn't done anything like it in over a year and she missed the casual conversation.

Nagisa turned her head as she stretched and looked out into the hall. She saw Miyuki talking to two members of the unofficial Etoile Search Club. The two girls shook their heads at the same time which resulted in Miyuki pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. _Oh gee, I wonder what could have possibly happened._ Miyuki turned around and walked into the meeting room for the student council as the search members scurried off in different directions.

_Time to do some sleuthing._ "I'll be right back." Nagisa told her three classmates who all responded with a nod. She walked out into the hall and looked around. Upon seeing that the coast was clear, she quietly walked up to the meeting room door and stood in front of it. She leaned in and listened in on their conversation. She first heard Miyuki try to start the meeting, but a woman she hadn't heard speak before immediately interjected and said they couldn't start the meeting without the Etoile. After that, the two got into a heated argument and she could swear she heard a third voice sigh. _They're clearly not going to get anything done._ _Ooh. I've got a fun idea._

Nagisa suddenly swung the door open. "Ready or not! Here I come!" She walked in and looked at the three presidents. "Huh?" Nagisa tilted her head to the side with a look of confusion on her face. "Did I get the wrong room?" _So these are the presidents of Lulim and Spica? Looks like Miyuki was arguing with Spica's president. The one from Lulim… huh? She looks like she's entertained by my sudden entrance. They really are carefree, aren't they?_

"Na- Aoi-san, what are you doing?" Miyuki asked, giving her a skeptical look. Miyuki knew Nagisa wasn't that oblivious.

"I totally was _not_ playing hide-and-seek just now, if that's what you're asking." _Hey, it's the truth no matter how true it sounds._ "Did I interrupt something?" _I guess that drama coach really wasn't bullshitting me when he said I should be an actor._

The blond woman sighed. "I think we can end today's meeting here." _And Aoi Nagisa pulls off another stunning performance!_ "However, if this continues on, do not forget that this is Miator's student council president's responsibility." _I don't think she's talking about me. Okay, she might be referring to me a little bit. Still, Shizuma really is causing trouble for Miyuki._ The blond woman walked out, but the Lulim president remained in her seat.

Miyuki walked up to Nagisa. "What were you thinking? It is basic manners to knock before you enter a room." Miyuki was about to walk past her, but Nagisa grabbed her arm.

"If things keep progressing as they are now, Shizuma-san's actions are going to start affecting the students. I know you two are friends, but you can't keep protecting her like this. Those first years will be disappointed if the Etoile doesn't show up tomorrow." Her voice was barely above a whisper so Lulim's president couldn't overhear her.

"I know, but the problem now is that we can't even find her anymore. If I talk to her after dinner tonight, she'll just brush it off as another lecture and ignore it. I don't know what to do." Miyuki's answer was more honest than Nagisa expected.

"She's causing you a lot of stress, isn't she?" Nagisa turned to face Miyuki. _I'm really taking advantage of her in a moment of weakness, but this is for both of their sakes._ "How about we make a bet, Miyuki-san?" Miyuki gave Nagisa a confused, skeptical look. "If I can get Etoile-sama to start attending these meetings and get her to show up at this party thing, you have to listen to my request and you can't say no."

Miyuki was silent for a moment, but eventually caved in. "And if you can't?"

"Then several first years are going to be hurt by her irresponsibility and you won't be able to help her." Miyuki was silent for a minute before she held her hand out and shook Nagisa's hand.

"Deal." _Believe me, I feel horrible for doing this Miyuki. I hope I don't lose your friendship when all of this ends._ Nagisa watched Miyuki leave the room and turned around when she heard a giggle behind her. _Oh right. Lulim's president is still here._

"What a fun change of events." The woman said in a calm tone that barely hid the underlying excitement she clearly felt. "Nice to meet you. I am Lulim's student council president, Minamoto Chikaru." _Wow this girl is pretty. She could go toe-to-toe with Tamao._

"I'm Aoi Nagisa. Pleasure to meet you, Chikaru-chan." _Even the president of Lulim seems laid back. _

"Yes, I've heard several rumors about you." _Everyone has. Woe is me._ "My favorite one is the one about you shouting in the hall that you wanted to live in a world where they don't speak French."

"That's a total exaggeration." Nagisa waved her hand dismissively. "I said country, not world." Chikaru chuckled. _Could I have made another friend already? Keep at it Nagisa!_ Nagisa placed a hand on her hip and looked at the door Miyuki left in. "I'm guessing they were arguing over the Etoile again?" _Well I was listening but it's not like she needs to question my stealthy skills._

"Yes. Every meeting has been going like this lately. It was a nice change of pace today when we had a sudden intrusion. It was very entertaining." _So I left a good impression on her, eh? I bet Spica's president doesn't like me. Oh well. You win some, you lose some._

"So the Etoile is really needed for these meetings or work doesn't get done, huh?"

Chikaru nodded her head. "At this point, the meetings start and end with their arguments. There are times when all three presidents must work together. Each president represents the opinions and wants of the students and they must remain unbiased because they run everything." _Seriously. Why do students run everything? One student gets lazy and everything goes to hell._ "The Etoile represents every student from all three schools and is required to settle events between the three schools."

"Without her, things clearly don't go well between Miyuki and Spica's president. Why is that?" Nagisa asked. Most of it made sense, but she couldn't think of why those two were so quick to argue.

"Well you have Miator, which has the longest legacy here and Spica which was established later and is famous for sports. They both oppose each other and argue almost instantly. The Etoile is supposed to keep them in check, but that's clearly not happening." Chikaru sighed. _So Miyuki is trying to keep Shizuma in check when it's actually supposed to be the opposite?_

"I guess Lulim doesn't have that kind of problem with arguing because they're more laid back, right?" Chikaru nodded her head. "This makes me think of different birds trapped in the same cage." Nagisa said offhandedly. Chikaru had a curious look on her face like she just had to hear what Nagisa was going to say. "Miator is like a bird that wants to soar majestically across the sky; Spica is like a bird that wants to fly faster and stronger every day; Lulim is like a bird that wants to fly freely because it's fun. Without the Etoile, they're trapped in their cage where they can only fight." Nagisa was blushing. It sounded much better in her head. _Aww man that sounded like crap.__ Why the hell did I even think of birds anyway?_

Chikaru giggled a little. "That's certainly an interesting way of putting it. The rumors about you being an interesting person are certainly true. It's too bad you didn't transfer into Lulim." _So I'm not the only one that thinks I should have gone there._

"I would, but I saw Lulim's curriculum too. If I didn't have to take French there too, I'd transfer in a heartbeat." They both laughed. "We're still friends though, right?" She asked with a mock pleading look.

"Of course." She replied with an amused smile. The two of them split up shortly after that. Nagisa returned to the three waiting girls and dodged their questions about where she went. She didn't contribute much to the conversation after that, her mind having already drifted to what she should do about Shizuma. _Based on what Miyuki said, simply lecturing her might get her to show up tomorrow if I'm lucky, but it will be completely ineffective in the long run. I only have until tomorrow morning to figure this out. I could just go on impulse. That's what got me this far._

Once the time of curfew came, Nagisa split from the other three in order to search the dorms. _With the curfew in effect and the time for dinner quickly approaching, the only place Shizuma could be is in the dorm. Still, even within such a limited space, she's managed to dodge Tougi and Kanou. Based on what Miyuki said, she's able to talk to Shizuma after dinner, but it doesn't do any good. Even if I find her tonight, will there be any point in talking to her?  
><em>

Nagisa spent the entire hour searching the dorm for the elusive Etoile. _Where the hell is she hiding? This woman stealth skills could rival my own._ Nagisa had encountered Tougi during her search and tried to get some useful information out of her, but the only thing Nagisa learned was that Shizuma doesn't return to her room until late at night. Now she was leaning against the wall at the entrance, thinking about what she should do. _That means she spends a few hours after dinner hiding somewhere, but I have no idea where._

"You'll be late for dinner if you don't get moving." A voice called out to her, pulling her out of her train of thought. Nagisa looked up at the voice that spoke to her to see Shizuma walking down the stairs. _Damn it. _Now_ she shows up? Confronting her five minutes before the evening prayer won't accomplish anything! Hey, wait. Why is she coming from upstairs? There's nothing up there but the bedrooms for first through fourth year stu…dents… Ah. She's been able to hide by hiding in other people's bedrooms. Pervert. _Nagisa nodded her head but avoided giving a verbal response. _Better keep interaction to a minimum until I can confront her properly._

Dinner was the same uneventful routine as always. Nagisa had finished her meal in an instant and silently watched the Etoile and those around her. She was waiting for something to hopefully happen, but she had no idea what she hoping for. A few minutes into her one-sided staring contest, Shizuma suddenly stood up and walked out of the cafeteria with Miyuki following after her. The students immediately fell into a cluster of gossiping idiots. _Now's my chance._ Nagisa quietly got out of her seat and followed after the two who left before her. The students seemed more interested in their gossip about the other two than they were about her.

She followed them to the entrance. _Why are they heading upstairs?_ Nagisa moved up the stairs as stealthily as she could. _Professional Spy, Aoi Nagisa, has successfully located her target!_ She observed the two from behind a corner as they entered a room at the end of the hall. _Huh? Why does Shizuma have a key for that room? Whose room is it?_ She quietly moved to the end of the hall and leaned against the wall, listening in on their conversation. _Forget spy, I'm a ninja. Ninjas are so much cooler._

"Shizuma!" Miyuki's sudden angry shout pulled Nagisa out of her thoughts. _That's happening a lot today._

"Is something wrong?" _Wow. Shizuma sounds like she really doesn't give a damn._

"How long are you planning to act like this? You've stopped coming to meetings and it's difficult just to get you to show up to both prayers." _Really? I thought she was doing that much by choice. Miyuki has to drag her out to go to those too?_

"Another one of your lectures?" _Bitch move right there. You shouldn't treat the one who is protecting you like crap when you're supposed to be protecting her._ Nagisa reached for the doorknob but stopped herself. _No, I can't act on impulse. I'll ruin everything if I do. Sorry, Miyuki._ The room had gone silent so Nagisa left to return to her room.

Nagisa changed out of her uniform and lay down on her bed. _Anger is just going to make her act passively, being sympathetic will have a negative effect if I don't hold all the cards in my hand, and ignoring the problem is certainly not the answer. How do I approach this? I think… the best way to go at this is to be a total bitch. It makes me feel like shit, but it should get the job done. Tomorrow is going to suck._

"Nagisa-chan?" Tamao's voice called out to her as she closed the door. _When did she come back? Did I space out?_ Nagisa sat up and glanced lazily at Tamao. _There's that worried look again._ "Are you feeling unwell? You suddenly left without a word."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't want to waste too much time sitting around when I already finished eating, so I came back up here to study." Nagisa sighed and fell backwards onto her bed again. "But then I got too lazy to study. I have a total lack of motivation." _And the Oscar goes to…! Wait wait wait! No, that's not what I should be doing. Damn it. Didn't I just say yesterday that I was going to stop lying to my friends? Damn it! Why the hell is lying so easy for me?_

"Would you like some help? It's easier to stay focused if you have someone to study with." Nagisa was about to open her mouth in what Tamao assumed was protest so she immediately cut the redhead off. "No, it won't bring my performance down. Sometimes it's good to go back and review the basics." _So what I've been doing is just the basics to the rest of the class, huh? How depressing._ Nagisa nodded her head in defeat. _One problem at a time, right?_

* * *

><p>Nagisa left the room early the next morning, mostly to check on the situation with Shizuma, but also partly because she somehow ended up sleeping in the same bed as Tamao again and she wanted to avoid that awkwardness. <em>How does that keep happening? Damn you, French!<em>

Nagisa proceeded downstairs. She was planning to ask Miyuki about the situation, but ended up running into Chikaru first. "Good morning, Chikaru-chan. How are things going?"

Chikaru turned to greet Nagisa. "Good morning, Nagisa-chan. Preparations are going smoothly, but there hasn't been any sign of the Etoile yet. We have already sent at least five people to look for her, but she doesn't seem to be anywhere in the dorms." _I figured as much. The students here know the dorm better than I do, so I doubt I could find her if they couldn't._

"How troublesome. She's really causing problems for everyone, isn't she?" Nagisa sighed. "I guess I'll go search for the fool as well." Nagisa turned and walked away, waving over her shoulder to Chikaru as she left.

"Hey, is Etoile-sama going to attend today's welcome party?" Nagisa looked up the stairs to see three first years talking to each other. _Ooh! It's the clumsy librarian!_

"According to what I heard, Etoile-sama welcomes the new boarding students one by one." _They sound pretty excited about it. Aww, the librarian just tripped. Oh, she got up, rubbed her nose, and kept walking like nothing happened. I don't think someone should be _that _used to tripping. More importantly, these first years are really looking forward to meeting the Etoile, and Shizuma is going to disappoint them._

Nagisa crossed her arms as she walked out of the dorm building. _Where the hell could she be? The only place inside the dorm that those searching for her wouldn't check is the room she and Miyuki went into last night, but that would probably be the first place Miyuki would check. If she were going to hide, it would be outside where there are no people who could spot her. She's most likely hiding somewhere in the trees. If I get attacked by a bear, I'm going to sue someone's ass off. Unless it's the one gramps said he'd catch. I wonder if he's making any progre-damn it, Nagisa! Focus!  
><em>

Nagisa walked off the path and into the forest. _Now that I think about it, it would have been better to tell someone I was going in here and that Shizuma might be out here. Foresight, Nagisa, you need to get some._ The first clearing that Nagisa came to was vacant. _Damn it. I should stay within a certain distance of the school. If she has gone past a certain point, it won't matter if I find her or not if we can't make it back in time._

Nagisa stepped out of the forest and looked around. _There's got to be an easier way to spot a clearing than just wondering around. Let's see…aha!_ Nagisa ran back into the dorms and ran up to the second floor. _I'll have a better view up here._ Nagisa looked through the trees for anything that stood out. _That__ tree over there is much taller than the others. In order for a tree to grow that large, there shouldn't be any other trees planted close to it. There's gotta be a clearing there. It's the only tree that really sticks out around here._ Nagisa ran back outside and through the trees again.

Nagisa stepped into the clearing a few minutes later. _She's really here! Holy shit! Talk about dumb luck. No wait, that was all logic. Aww yeah. Way to kick ass, Nagisa. Now stop talking to yourself and focus._ "Come on. Let's go." Nagisa said in an annoyed tone as she approached Shizuma.

"Someone managed to find me?" Shizuma seemed to be unable to hide her surprise. _I can't blame her for that. This was more dumb luck than anything, no matter how much I call it logic. _

"You're not as good at hiding as you think you are." Nagisa grabbed Shizuma's arm. "Let's go. Everyone is waiting for you."

Shizuma managed to shake off her surprise and put on that _damn_ smirk that Nagisa hated so much. "Who asked you to find me? Was it Miyuki? Or perhaps it was-"

Nagisa immediately cut her off. "No one did, but if you knew Miyuki would be looking for you, why the hell did you hide? You're supposed to be the Etoile, right? Why in the hell are you acting like a selfish brat?" _At least that got rid of her annoying smirk._ "Have you still not realized how much trouble you're causing everyone? You're supposed to be the most loved and respected person in the school, yet you ignore everyone's feelings for your own selfishness. It's shameful. Those first years are really looking forward to meeting you, yet here you are in the middle of the forest because you don't feel like doing your duty." _Did I say too much? She looks mad._

"You seem to have no trouble lecturing me about all of this. Do you think you could do a better job?"

"Whether I could or could not is completely irrelevant. _You_ are the Etoile and it is _your_ responsibility to play your role." Nagisa let go of Shizuma and placed the hand on her own hip. "Honestly, I don't know how Miyuki can stand to put up with you anymore." _The look on her face shifted from hurt to hatred._ Shizuma grabbed Nagisa by the shoulders and pushed her into the closest tree. _I didn't think she'd actually get physical yet. How well I do this determines whether I succeed or get punched in the face. My face doesn't like to develop physical relationships with fists. _

"What the hell do you know?" Shizuma shouted in anger. _This isn't even about the lecture anymore. Is it about Miyuki now? Maybe it's because I haven't been using honorifics?  
><em>

"I know surprisingly more than you do from only being here a week, even though you're supposed to be her best friend. Why is that, Shizuma-san? How is that you don't even know how Miyuki feels when you two are supposed to be so close?" Shizuma opened her mouth to speak, but Nagisa quickly cut her off again.

"She's suffering. Those things you called lectures were her stubborn way of asking for help. I don't know what happened between you and the other Etoile-" _The hurt look is in her eyes again. _"-but ever since then, Miyuki has put on a strong front to protect you until you recovered. You're her best friend and she's pushing her limits to protect you, yet you keep ignoring her pain because you're too busy drowning in your own sorrow. At the rate things are going, Miyuki will eventually break down. I saw it yesterday. The stress is getting to her and she can't keep her emotions in check. She's starting to snap almost instantly and she's constantly carrying around an exhausted look. She doesn't have the energy for this. When I asked her about you yesterday, she said she doesn't even know what to do anymore. She still wants to protect you, but you're making things so difficult for her that she's at a complete loss as to what to do. Even today, if you don't show up, she's going to try to cover for you and she's going to fail. Dealing with Spica's president is one thing, but what do you think will happen if she snaps at the Head Sister? You're going to go down and you're going to take Miyuki down with you." _Damn it. I hate playing the bitch. I always feel like shit and it makes me sick to my stomach._

Shizuma had a look of complete shock on her face. Her grip on Nagisa lightened to the point where her arms eventually dropped to her sides. Nagisa calmed her voice down and continued. "I'm not saying you should go there because you're the Etoile. I'm being selfish here and saying you should do your job as Etoile so Miyuki can finally breathe easily again. You two are best friends. It's pointless if you don't both take care of yourselves and each other."

The two of them stood in silence after Nagisa finished speaking. Shizuma stared silently at the ground, apparently lost in thought. It must have been five to ten minutes before Shizuma looked up at Nagisa with a determined look in her eyes. "Let's go." Nagisa smiled and nodded her head.

The two of them arrived at the party just as it started. Nagisa walked behind Shizuma as she walked over to the presidents and stood next to Chikaru as the Etoile kept walking. _I have no idea what that one handed bowing thing is about. _ Chikaru looked back at Nagisa as Shizuma walked past her. The two of them exchanged grins and turned their attention back to Shizuma who was now walking to the first years with Miyuki. The other two presidents followed behind them and Nagisa leaned against the wall. _I think I was technically supposed to go sit down when I first came in. Ah screw it, rumors are gonna circulate no matter what I do. I might as well stand here and feel important. Yeah!_

Nagisa looked up to the front and pretended to listen to whatever the hell Shizuma was saying. _Oh my… there's a girl with pink hair! She's got to be the yandere! She looks so cute but I bet she's secretly violent towards the one she loves. I wonder if- is that girl holding a teddy bear? Ah, hell. I've seen stranger things than that. Why is everyone singing? Good thing I'm standing over here cause I had no idea there would be a song involved. I'd look like an idiot if I tried singing a song I hadn't heard before._

Most of the students left the room after the party was over, though there were a few groups remaining and talking among themselves. Tamao, Chihaya and Mazushima came over to Nagisa after the party ended. "How did you find her and get her to come?" Tamao asked.

Nagisa grinned and puffed out her chest with mock pride. "With my amazing detective skills and a heavy dose of dumb luck." The four of them laughed and engaged in small talk for a few minutes before Shizuma walked up to them. The three girls next to her bowed their heads, but it was too late for Nagisa to pretend to give a crap about things like that. _Why is she holding th-ooh! I get a necklace too!_ Shizuma smiled and Nagisa lowered her head. The Etoile put the necklace on her. _Shiny!_

When most of the people were gone, Nagisa told Tamao that she had to talk to Miyuki and that she'd return to the room later. _Oh look, I didn't tell a lie._ She walked up to Miyuki when she was all alone. "Do I get results, or what?" She asked with a cocky attitude.

"I must admit that I am impressed. You really came through for the first years." Miyuki said with a smile. _She still looks exhausted. I'm going to feel bad for this._ "I believe you won our bet, so what is this favor you have to ask me?"

Nagisa scanned the room and saw that they were the last two remaining. She turned back to Miyuki, dropping the smile and replacing it with a serious expression and tone. "Tell me everything you know about the other Etoile, including her relationship with Shizuma-san and what happened to her."


	7. Gambling with Memories

_**SMACK!**_

Anger. Nagisa was fully aware of the fact that she would eventually bring anger out of both of them for her actions before all of this was resolved; nevertheless, she had not expected for Miyuki to be the first one to actually strike her. _Fuck! You wouldn't think it by looking at her but she hits hard. I can feel my cheek throbbing._

The left side of Nagisa's face was stinging and had reddened slightly. Despite the pain, Nagisa adjusted her sunglasses and turned her head to face an angered yet hurt Miyuki.

"How dare you? Do you think this is some sort of game? Did you think I would talk about something like that just to satisfy your curiosity?" Miyuki all but shouted, her body trembling slightly as she talked.

"I know I'm asking for a lot but-" Nagisa tried to explain but Miyuki's quickly cut her off .

"You have no idea what you're asking for! Do you think someone can so easily talk about their past just because you did them a favor? Were you only offering to help because you wanted a story?"

"That's wrong! I did it to prove that I care about what's happening to the both of you!" Nagisa suddenly shouted, causing Miyuki to back up slightly. "I don't know exactly what I'm asking for, you're right; however, I do know that whatever happened back then is still affecting both of you deeply. I've seen the pain in both of your eyes. In Shizuma's eyes, I've seen that look of pain in her eyes more than my fair share of times. The look in her eyes of losing someone important." _I've seen that look enough times in my own reflection to identify it._ Nagisa could see that Miyuki's expression lightened slightly. "As for you, you've been trying to act tough ever since whatever happened because you're trying to be strong for Shizuma. It's something you aren't used to doing but you force yourself every day to be strong for her because you care about her. The pain the two of you feel is slowly eating away at you both."

Miyuki grit her teeth, trying to mentally deny the truth in Nagisa's words. "And you think you can do something about it?"

"I can't say for sure. You are my friend and every friend I have is precious to me. So much so that I am willing to risk your friendship in order to help the two of you with this. I know from experience that talking about painful memories is not easy, but I am willing to take all of your anger and hatred just for the hope of pushing you two down the road of recovery." Nagisa was beginning to feel insecure. This was one of the few times where she was being completely honest, but it felt like Miyuki was passing her words off as lies.

"You can't be ser-" Miyuki suddenly stopped herself when Nagisa pulled her sunglasses off.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm lying!" Nagisa shouted, her flaming orange eyes looking into Miyuki's eyes. She knew removing her sunglasses wouldn't have the dramatic affect that it probably would on a television drama or an anime, but she knew it would prove that she was willing to grunt through pain to get her point across. "My friends mean everything to me. I am willing to sacrifice any and everything for their sake. I'll endure any pain I have to for my friends."

Pain. An intense pain burned in Nagisa's eyes, so much so that she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. The migraine came on as quickly as it always did when she looked into light. Yelling certainly didn't help any. The pain was mind numbing, and suddenly everything was dark as she felt something cover her face.

"Alright, I get it already." Miyuki said as she put her hands over Nagisa's eyes. "Don't be so reckless." Despite Miyuki's anger towards Nagisa, she couldn't let the younger girl hurt herself just to prove her point. She knew Nagisa wasn't lying about wanting to help, just as she wasn't lying about Miyuki's pain. Her anger had gotten the best of her at Nagisa's sudden request, so much so that she would actually hit the girl. Even so, seeing the girl hurt herself just to convince her upset Miyuki greatly. "Put your glasses back on." What convinced Miyuki wasn't so much that Nagisa was willing to make herself suffer just to prove her point, but the fact that she said she knew from experience that it was difficult to talk about a painful past. She couldn't help but wonder what Nagisa was referring to. It quickly became something she considered asking about if she was going to tell Nagisa about Kaori. Despite this, it didn't seem right for her to ask Nagisa to swap stories. She knew Nagisa was asking because she wanted to help after seeing her in pain, but Miyuki could not say the same. Miyuki had seen how happy and carefree Nagisa was most of the time, the only exception being at times like this when she suddenly became serious.

Nagisa nodded her head before feeling Miyuki's hands leave her face. She put her shades back on and reached into her pocket. She pulled a bottle of pills out, opened it, and swallowed one of the pills. She wasn't sure when Miyuki guided her to a seat but she just realized that she was sitting down. "I meant every word." Nagisa said as she wiped the tears.

"I know. Will you be alright?" Miyuki asked as Nagisa forced herself to her feet.

"Yeah, that pill I took is good for migraines." _Too bad the side effect is drowsiness. That thing is going to knock my ass out soon. I need to take care of this quickly._

"Tomorrow night." Miyuki said. Nagisa gave her an obviously confused raise of the eyebrow. "I need time to think, and it'd be pointless to tell you it if you pass out in the middle of it. If we waited until you woke up, it'd probably be too late anyway." _Ah, I guess drowsiness is the obvious side effect? Maybe she saw the medical file about it._ Nagisa nodded her head, unaware that Miyuki also needed to figure out how to ask about Nagisa's past as well as figure out the appropriate way to speak to her about Kaori. Nagisa's vision was already becoming blurry and she could feel a wave of exhaustion flow through her.

"Then tomorrow night it is." Miyuki nodded her head and walked out of the room. Nagisa remained still for a minute before leaving to return to her room. She was relieved to see that Tamao hadn't returned yet and figured she was still with Chihaya and Mitzushima. _Do we even have classes today? It honestly never occurred to me that we might. Oh well._ She quickly changed and lay down in her bed where she immediately fell asleep. She slept long past dinner and didn't wake up until the next morning.

* * *

><p>Nagisa felt sluggish the next day. At this point, she didn't know if it was still from the side effects of her medicine or if it was because Tamao woke her up early to show her…something. "Why are we getting ready earlier than usual?" Nagisa asked, sounding half asleep.<p>

Tamao frowned and put her hands on her hips. _Is she pouting because I forgot? That's adorable. I should 'forget' stuff more often._ "Geez, Nagisa-chan. I just told you five minutes ago. We're going to go see Ootori-san."

"Ootori-san? Is that someone important?" _If she's the person that bakes the cakes, I totally want to meet that baker. I wouldn't abuse that friendship at all, of course. Nope, not me._

Tamao sighed and shook her head. _I guess I've already asked that too._ "Ootori Amane, the-" _Wait, Amane? The chick that's so popular in Spica for reasons I can't remember? No wonder I forced myself to get up. Oops. Tamao is still talking and I didn't hear a word she said._

"Oh, right." Nagisa went with the simplest answer and rubbed her head. "I didn't forget already. It just happened to slip my mind." _Permanently. In my defense, I did hear something about a horse. That doesn't really help my case, does it?_ Tamao gave her a skeptical look that Nagisa pretended not to notice. "Anyway, let's get ready." A few second passed before Nagisa heard Tamao let out a soft gasp. _It's never a good thing when someone suddenly gasps. Is there a spider in my hair?_ Nagisa felt Tamao suddenly touch her shoulder, causing the girl to jump in surprise. "Y-yes?"

"Your shoulder…" Nagisa could see the sad look in Tamao's eyes. She looked at her own shoulder and saw the scar from the car wreck. _Oh right. We've usually not in the same room when we we've changed before, so she hasn't seen it yet. I stopped bothering to hide that scar from her since I told her what happened. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to say now, though._

"If we take too long, we're going to miss this Ootori-san." _Phew. Quick save._ Tamao didn't seem happy about it, but she nodded her head and the two girls resumed getting ready.

As the two walked outside, Tamao explained about Amane for the third time because she knew Nagisa wasn't listening before. _She saw right through me. Apparently, this Amane is in some horse riding club and the rumors say that people look up to her because she is like a prince. That's a weird thing to have admirers for. Then again, this is an all girls school and things like that are apparently normal._

"Na-gi-sa-chan!" Tamao said in a somewhat annoyed tone, pulling Nagisa out of her thoughts. _How many times am I gonna space out in my own thoughts in one day?_

"Yes?" She asked in a completely innocent tone as if she hadn't been ignoring her best friend for the past few minutes.

Tamao frowned. "Nagisa-chan keeps spacing out. It'll make me feel lonely if I have to talk to myself because someone else isn't listening." _Well no one would think you're crazy as long as you talk to yourself in your own head like I do. It's not like there's anyone reading my thoughts right now._ "So what happened yesterday?" _Ah. I was wondering if she was going to ask about that._ Nagisa decided to give Tamao her best whatever-could-you-mean-by-that face, complete with the slight tilt of the head and the arching of the eyebrow. Tamao replied with her own you-know-what-I-mean face that came with the frown and narrowed eyes. "You slept all day yesterday and even missed dinner. I would naturally be worried that something might have happened." _It feels like other people would finish that line with 'so spill it'._

Nagisa waved her hand dismissively. "It was nothing, really. My shades fell off yesterday and the medicine I took to get rid of the migraine has one hell of a drowsy side effect. Honestly, I'm still tired." To add emphasis to what she was saying, Nagisa stretched her arms above her head and yawned. _Even if I play it off as nothing, she's still going to worry. I better change the subject._ Nagisa glanced around and pointed at a few Spica students walking ahead of them. "Why are those students carrying gifts? Is it someone's birthday?" _It wouldn't surprise me, really. There are enough students here for someone to have a birthday each day of the year._ "I'm totally unprepared! I didn't bring anything!" Nagisa added in a whiny tone.

Tamao smirked at Nagisa's whiny tone. "No, that's not it." _Topic change successful!_ "Several students show up each time Ootori-san either leaves or returns with gifts for her, but rumors say she hasn't accepted a single one." _Based on how accurate your rumors have been so far, that's probably true as well._

As they arrived where a group of mostly Spican students were waiting, the crowd suddenly started to cheer. "It seems we made it just in time." Tamao pointed out as they stood near the group. Tamao tapped Nagisa's shoulder and pointed in the direction that Amane was coming from. Nagisa felt embarrassed because she was looking in the opposite direction. _I was distracted. I thought I would be the only one who wasn't excited about this Amane chick, but I could swear I saw a blond who just looked bummed out. Oh well._

The crowd cheered with more excitement as Amane came into view, riding on a white horse. _I don't know shit about horses, so I have no idea what breed that is. It stands out more than the other horses behind it. More importantly, holy crap, she does look like a prince. Someone owes me 500 yen. I feel sorry for those other horse riders. No one seems to give a damn about them. It must be hard being in a popular girl's shadow._ Amane got off of her horse and turned to face the cheering girls. When she brushed some hair to the side, the crowd started cheering like a bunch of overexcited idiots. _My god, fangirls are the most annoying things ever._

"It's Etoile-sama!" A girl in the crowd called out, splitting the crowd's attention. _Well that's new. I wonder how long it took Miyuki to convince her to come to this. Who are those girls behind her? I recognize Spica's student council president, but I don't recognize those other two. Miyuki isn't with them either._

Nagisa nudged Tamao with her elbow. "Hey, Tamao-chan. Who are those girls behind Etoile-sama?" _Tamao doesn't know that I've met the president before, so I should keep it that way._

"The blond woman on Etoile-sama's left is the student council president of Spica." _I knew that. Neener neener. Oh crap. I think she just said her name, and I totally missed it. Oh well._ "The two on her right are Kenjo Kaname and Kiyashiki Momomi, the other two members of Spica's student council." _Wait, what? So those sketchy looking girls are the two with the rumors about them being all intimate and whatnot?_

Nagisa crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side as she thought. She had already lost interest in whatever the hell Shizuma and Amane were doing. "Are the rumors about those two on the student council being a couple true?" She asked, turning to look at Tamao.

Tamao shrugged. "I had heard the rumors before, but I've never actually seen them doing anything other than walking together." _So it's not a definitely true rumor like everything else she seems to hear. Bummer. Wait, why is that a bummer? I don't even like rumors._ Nagisa nodded her head and let the thought go. She didn't really see herself interacting with Spica enough for that rumor to actually matter.

Somehow or another, Tamao dragged Nagisa to some sort of auditorium while she was lost in thought. _I have nothing against the horse riding club, nor do I have any problem with the choir club that Tamao just told me about, but I would prefer so much more to be sleeping right now. I already saw what I came out here to see. I didn't know there would be a ceremony afterward._ Nagisa looked at Tamao, who was seated next to her, and gave her a frown. Tamao responded with an apologetic look, but Nagisa wasn't going to fall for that. _She totally knew there was a ceremony. I should make her blush by using her shoulder as a pillow. Nah. If I started snoring, that'd be pretty rude. Then again, I don't even know what that flag is for and why everyone is clapping. Someone gave Amane a flag for doing well at a horse riding event or competition or whatever. I don't get it. What does that have to do with horses? This place makes no sense to me. Also, what the hell ever happened to going to class? Is there some sort of holiday that I'm not aware of? I guess that isn't impossible since I don't remember the holidays that Japan celebrates. I know there's a Golden Week and I think there's a Coming of Age day or something. Honestly, I don't even know how I remember those either._ Nagisa hadn't realized it, but while she was lost in thought, she ended up leaning her head on Tamao's shoulder. _Damn it! I keep doing things like this without realizing it!_ Nagisa glanced up at Tamao and a playful grin formed on her face when she could just barely make out the signs of a blush on the blunette's face. "Revenge." Nagisa whispered.

Nagisa sat up when the choir got on stage. _If I'm already trapped here, I might as well enjoy it. I wonder how good their singing is. I'd be super nervous if I had to sing in front of this many peo-apparently, I'm not the only one._ Nagisa frowned when a blond member of the choir embarrassed herself by singing too soon, too quietly, and slightly off key. _Isn't that the blond girl from earlier? Poor girl. She must have been nervous as hell before she even got here. Is it her first time performing in front of a crowd?_ The choir started singing for real this time, but the blond girl quietly stared at the ground. Nagisa couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. _It sucks when your first time on stage goes horribly wrong. I hope she has a good friend that can cheer her up after this._

* * *

><p>Nagisa spent the remainder of the day in silence, lost in her thoughts as she worried about how things would go tonight. <em>I've gotten this far mostly thanks to luck. How much further can this go before my luck runs out?<em>

Before she realized it, the sun had set and she was sitting in the cafeteria for dinner. _When did it get so late? I didn't even realize I already ate. Then again, I hardly ever do unless it's cake. I love cake. I wonder if Miyuki likes cake. It's hard to picture her eating sweets. Wait, what the hell am I thinking about? I really need to stop letting my mind wander. Is a wandering brain called a wonderer? Oh wow, that was a horrible pun. Was that even a pun? I'm sorry, brain._ I'm sorry, readers.

Nagisa was pulled out of her completely non-entertaining thoughts when Miyuki walked up to her. "Aoi Nagisa, I need to speak with you." Nagisa looked up at Miyuki, ignoring the questioning stares from those around her. Miyuki spoke in a calm tone and wore the same expression she always had in public. _Her poker face could rival my own._ Nagisa nodded her head, then stood up and followed Miyuki out of the cafeteria. _I figured we would speak after dinner, not during it. Where are we going?_ Miyuki led Nagisa up the stairs and to a door at the end of the hall. _This is..._

"You want to speak in here?" Nagisa asked, placing her hands on her hips and looking questionably at the door. _So she pulled me out during dinner because there would be no one in the hall? That makes sense._ Miyuki nodded her head and pulled out a key. _Is that a spare key, or did she manage to take it from Shizuma? Oh man, if she finds out before this is over…_ Nagisa shifted uncomfortably and waited for Miyuki to open the door. Miyuki seemed hesitant as she silently stared at the door. _She must be thinking that once she goes through with this, there's no turning back, or something like that._ Nagisa cringed a little at the thought. _I'm doing a horrible thing to her and it will only be worse if I can't figure something out after hearing what she has to say._

Miyuki took a deep breath before unlocking the door and signaling for Nagisa to walk in. Nagisa nodded her head and walked into the room. _There's only one bed. Unless I'm forgetting something, which is quite possible really, I thought there weren't any singles on the second floor. It doesn't look like anyone has stayed in this room in a long time. There's a thin layer of dust on the furniture, but the windows look mostly clean. I guess Shizuma and Miyuki never touch anything when they come in here, but perhaps they open the window occasionally._ Nagisa turned back to Miyuki as she shut the door. Miyuki walked past Nagisa to the window and opened the curtain and then the window. _I called it._ She faced Nagisa and leaned on the windowsill. _I have to admit, I never thought I'd see her leaning against a window like that._

Nagisa stood in the middle of the room and waited for Miyuki to speak. The blunette closed her eyes in thought for a moment, and then looked up at Nagisa. "I'm not sure how you will use this information once I tell you it, but I will keep my word. I shall tell you everything I know from the beginning, about the other Etoile and Shizuma's lover, Sakuragi Kaori." Miyuki told the story of Kaori to Nagisa. Since the changes in Nagisa's past wouldn't affect Kaori in any way, her past is the same as it was in the anime and there's no reason to just quote the episode. Go watch episode nineteen if you forgot the story about Kaori.

The story had taken a couple of hours to tell as Miyuki explained the story from the moment Kaori transferred in, to their growing relationship, and finally to how it ended. Nagisa wasn't sure when it happened during the story, but at some point, tears started running down her cheeks and she hadn't realize it until the story was over. She quickly wiped them away as she thought through the entire story, piece by piece. _So I was completely wrong about why they didn't run for Etoile together. I thought it was because Shizuma already had a lover to run with, but Miyuki had already decided that she wanted to be on the student council. Well, that part is not really important at this point._

_I don't think I've ever heard of an actual story about love at first sight. It sounded like the two were beating around the bush for a while, but the affection was obvious on Shizuma's side from the beginning. I can kind of see it from Kaori as well, but not as clearly. It sounds like it became most obvious that night that the three of them went to see the stars together and talked about some meteor showers. What I don't get is how Miyuki knew about what those two were doing that one night when…_ A blush suddenly came to Nagisa's face. Miyuki saw this and raised an eyebrow. Nagisa ignored it and tried to continue her thinking.

_Did Shizuma tell her about it or- no, that's not important. What I'm more concerned about is how Miyuki described that part. She seemed sad, almost… heartbroken? Does she have feelings for Kaori? Or could they be for Shizuma? No, judging from her reaction to Shizuma's teasing at the beginning, it probably isn't Kaori. Her story didn't hint towards that kind of feelings for the girl. Whether or not she feels anything for Shizuma, it won't help at this point so I'd better move on._

_The most important part starts when Kaori thanks Miyuki for her meeting Shizuma. It sounds like Shizuma gave meaning to a life she felt didn't have any value. I have to say, I'm jealous that she was able to find someone that gave her life meaning. Why did things have to go the way they did? No, stay focused. Think through the rest of the story._ Nagisa mentally slapped herself until she was back on track.

_I don't know what Kaori's actual condition is, and I'm not going to ask. It seems like whatever condition it is had gotten worse at the beginning of Miyuki and Shizuma's fourth year, if I'm following the story correctly. Even so, it's not particularly surprising that Shizuma chose to run in this election with Kaori, since Miyuki was aiming for student council. Or was she already a member since she saw the paper? That's a minor detail; keep thinking._

_All three of them were aware that Kaori's death was inevitable, but something seems off about that. Despite her agreement with Kaori when she found out about her short time and Shizuma said that she would become the Etoile, but it looks like the pain of loss was too much for her. Still, something feels completely off here. Why would Kaori want Shizuma to run for Etoile when she knew she wouldn't live long after the election ended? Think, damn it! From the time that they learned of Kaori's death…wait a minute._

"Miyuki!" Nagisa suddenly spoke up, causing the older woman to jump in surprise. Nagisa quickly caught Miyuki's arm, thinking the girl might fall back and out the window. "Have all of Kaori's belongings been removed from this room?"

Miyuki raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded her head. "Yes. Her belongings were removed shortly after her passing."

"Then how come your story doesn't mention anything about a will or her last words?" Nagisa asked, looking around the room. "Think about it. Kaori knew her time was coming to an end, but your story doesn't mention anything in those days about her expressing feelings towards Shizuma. The way I look at it, she might have realized that saying words like those near the end would make her passing more difficult for Shizuma to deal with, so why isn't there any mention of a will? Kaori was so in love with Shizuma because she gave her life meaning, so there's no way she hasn't written any final thoughts down for Shizuma to read after her death."

The words shook Miyuki and the surprise on her face was unmistakable. Even so, Miyuki frowned and shook her head. "There was never any mention from her family about there being anything like a will in her belongings. That would mean if there is something like that…"

"It's still here, somewhere in this room." Nagisa finished Miyuki's statement as she opened the doors of the armoire and checked for anything that still remained. "The only other place it could be is out in that garden, but Kaori was in no condition to go out there alone so it would have been impossible for her to hide the letter; therefore, there must be something in this room that didn't belong to Kaori, something that Shizuma would eventually come across…" Nagisa lifted the mattress to check under it, and then looked under the bed. After finding nothing, Nagisa sighed angrily and started looking through the desk. The few papers she found didn't have anything useful written on them. She tried finding a code on them, but that proved useless. As she dug through the drawers, she found a box with a glass panel and pulled it out. "What's this?"

"That box holds the two necklaces worn by the Etoile." _I'm sure there's more meaning behind that, but a simple answer is good enough._

Nagisa opened the box. "So this red one is the one that Kaori would have been wearing?" _Fuck. I need more tact when asking these kinds of questions._ "Sorry. That was insensitive."

"What are you doing?" A shout came from the doorway before Miyuki could speak. _Double fuck. My luck just ran out._ "Miyuki! Why did you bring her in here?"

Miyuki tried to answer, but she didn't seem to be able to form any tangible words. _I better direct her anger towards me. I don't want to ruin their friendship too._ "I threatened her, of course." Nagisa answered, receiving a surprised look from Miyuki and a super pissed off glare from Shizuma. "I guess blackmail is a more accurate word. I was curious about what was in this room, and I happened to see the two of you enter this room during dinner. I said I would spread a few rumors because we all know how those things spread in this school." _What's this thing sticking out in the box? It looks like some sort of paper. No, it's…an envelope!_

Before Nagisa could reach for it, she felt something suddenly shove her into the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of her. _I should have seen that coming._ "You…" Shizuma spoke with so much venom that Nagisa could feel her blood run cold. _H-holy shit. Why are pissed off women so strong and scary?_ Shizuma had a death grip on Nagisa's shoulder. Nagisa did her best not to wince in pain, but it was becoming more difficult when she felt her grasp tighten even more. _That's going to bruise. I think I'm losing the feeling in my arms._

Nagisa kicked Shizuma in the shin and pushed her back with her foot when Shizuma stepped backward from the sharp pain in her leg. Nagisa then tackled Shizuma to the ground. "Miyuki! Check the box! There's something sticking out under the neckla-" Nagisa couldn't finish her sentence due to Shizuma grabbing her again and flipping them over so she was on top. _I should have taken a self defense class or something. If I can't kick something, I'm pretty much screwed. Damn she has a scary ass glare._

"Shizuma!" Miyuki suddenly cried out. _Oh thank whatever mighty power that's watching this that Miyuki looked._ Shizuma looked up at Miyuki and the blunette showed the front of the envelope, revealing that it was addressed to Shizuma from Kaori. Shizuma immediately got up and opened the letter. Nagisa remained on the floor. _My arms are numb. Now they've got that tingly feeling like when your leg falls asleep. I love and hate that feeling at the same time._

Shizuma opened the letter and read it out loud. Nagisa assumed that it was just because of the shock of there being a letter that she ended up reading it out loud. That, or she completely forgot about Nagisa's existence the moment she saw Kaori's name. _I probably shouldn't be listening to this. Then again, I shouldn't have been listening from the start. Anyway, I wasn't aware of the things that happened in the garden after the election. Well, I kind of figured that they would at least be shown it together since they won the election and all that. Miyuki was pretty vague on everything that happened after that point. Oh damn it, I went and acted on impulse with a wrong assumption yet again. Well at least this time I only _barely _got my ass handed to me._

"Kaori!" Miyuki's sudden outburst and crying caught both Shizuma and Nagisa by surprise. _So Miyuki is a crybaby, huh? Well, I guess she doesn't need to act tough right now. More importantly, I totally shouldn't be hearing this conversation! 'Always stay by my side'? I know it's not the same as a love confession, but still, these are not words that a third party should be listening in on! Oh hey, I can feel my arms again. I should make a tactical retreat before- ah, crap. Shizuma is looking at me._

"I know I'm ruining an important moment with my presence, but I'm already on the ground so there's no need to kick my ass any further." Nagisa spoke up before Shizuma could say a word to her. To her surprise, the Etoile held a hand out for her to take. _I get it. She's gonna help me up so she can slap me back down. That's probably what I would do in her position. Then again, we've already established that I'm crazy._ Nagisa took the hand and stood up. When she saw Shizuma reach a hand towards Nagisa after standing, she flinched behind her glasses and waited for the smack to come. Nagisa was once again caught off guard when she not only didn't feel a smack on her face, but felt Shizuma pull her into a hug. _W-what the hell!_

"How did you know that she would leave a letter behind?" Shizuma asked, apparently ignoring the shocked look on Nagisa's face.

When Nagisa snapped out of her stupor, she answered. "It was something my grandfather taught me when I was a child." Shizuma raised an eyebrow. Nagisa cleared her throat and decided to explain.

_"It was something my grandfather taught me when I was six.__ We were at my parents' funeral__. I was leaning against a wall near their caskets, staring silently at the floor as other people__ came up to me to give their condolences. At this time, I had stopped speaking__ to everyone and just talked to myself in my own head. I think I just acknowledged them with a nod. After all that was done, my grandfather came up to me and told me that some person, I can't remember who, was going to read my parents' will and that I had to be there. I didn't say anything, but gramps could clearly tell that I had no idea about what he was talking about._

_He knelt down next to me and explained it. '__A will is something that people leave behind after they die.' I can see that surprised look, Miyuki. That might seem like a blunt thing for someone to say to a child after their parents die, but gramps wasn't one to try and bullshit things to soften the blow. People thought he was insensitive, but I knew that wasn't the case. He was probably the most affected by their deaths other than me. Anyway, he added more to it. 'A will i__s written because people can't predict the future, and things like this can happen before they expect it. In a will, someone writes down what they want to happen to their belongings, what they would like to see happen to their children, and they write their final thoughts to those that still live.'  
><em>

Nagisa sighed. "What he said didn't make much sense when he said it, probably because I was six, but I understood what he meant after hearing what was in the will. Yes, they said who they wanted to get their belongings and that they wanted my grandfather to take me in, but at least half of the will was just them talking about how much they love me. That's why I thought it was strange that Miyuki's story never mentioned anything about one."

"Well, most people around her age don't have one." Miyuki mumbled.

Nagisa raised an eyebrow. "Really? I would assume most people would have one by now and simply update every few years. I mean, she knew she was dying so it seemed even more likely that she would have one."

"Do you have one?" Miyuki couldn't stop herself from asking.

"I do." Nagisa answered flatly. That caught both Miyuki and Shizuma by surprise, but Shizuma shook it off quickly.

"Regardless of that, I thank you. Even though you were interfering in something that shouldn't have been any of your business, I may never have found this letter if you hadn't done so."

Nagisa stood there awkwardly. "Uh… no problem. I'm always willing to help a friend." _It's like her anger just vanished in an instant after reading the words her lover left behind. She truly was in love with Kaori, wasn't she?_

Shizuma pulled away and looked at her curiously. "A friend?" She looked back at Miyuki, then at Nagisa again. "I haven't heard you use any honorifics with Miyuki even though you've only been here for a short time, so I figured you two were dating."

"W-what?" Miyuki asked in sudden surprise, blushing furiously. Nagisa put a hand over her mouth and tried to stifle a laugh.

"N-no. It's nothing like that. I lived in America for ten years so I'm used to not using honorifics." Nagisa barely managed to get out before bursting into laughter. "Honestly, the two of you together makes a lot more sense than me being paired with either one of you." Nagisa said when she recovered from her laugh. She looked at her two senpais to see them both blushing, causing her to nearly fall over as she laughed again.

Shizuma shook off her blush quickly. "If you're not dating Miyuki, is there someone you do like?" _I'm actually surprised she's making light-hearted conversation considering she pinned me to a wall five minutes ago. Is this her sly way of showing that she doesn't wish to beat me to a pulp?_

"No, there isn't anyone like that right now. I do hope that I'll find someone that I can love someday, though." Nagisa rested her hands on the back of her head. "Does that mean we're friends now since you're asking me questions about my love life instead of maiming me?"

"Possibly, but only if you don't plan on snooping through anyone's past again."

"I make no promises. If I think there's something I can do to help a friend, I'll interfere to the point where I've gone beyond pissing them off if it comes to it. I'm also willing to bear any attack directed at me as well." Nagisa answered without hesitation, rubbing her arms where Shizuma grabbed her with a mock look of pain on her face. She was one to act on impulse, after all.

Shizuma chuckled at Nagisa's instant and playful reply. "I see. The moment I came in and yelled at Miyuki for letting you in, you immediately came up with a lie to redirect my anger. She's quite the actress, isn't she?" _This woman is sharper than she looks. Was she able to piece everything related to my actions together immediately after reading the letter?_ Shizuma looked over to Miyuki as she asked and saw that her friend wasn't listening. Noticing the confused look on her face, Shizuma nudged her slightly."Is there something on your mind?"

Miyuki shook her head. "I was just a bit confused. I could have sworn that Nagisa-chan and Suzumi-san are a couple." _Wait, what?_

"How do you figure?" Nagisa asked. _Please don't say what I think you're going to say._

"Well…" Miyuki frowned. "You two look and act just like a couple, really. You two are together all the time and the way she looks at you is kind of…" _Damn it! I knew it!_ "Did I say something that I shouldn't have?"

Nagisa's arms dropped to her side and she looked away from them. "No, it's not that. I just didn't think it was so obvious to other people that she might feel that way. I just passed it off as her being a tease, but the more she did it and the fact that she only did it towards me made it obvious that wasn't it. I was just hoping it wouldn't be as obvious to others right now." _I guess my 'revenge' this morning would be crueler than I intended if she really does feel that way about me._

"Do you not like her?" Shizuma asked, curious about Nagisa's answer.

"It's not like that. She's my best friend and that's all I really see her as right now. Hell, I don't think it's impossible for me to fall in love with her sometime in the future, but I can't answer her feelings right now. I know I'll have to address her feelings eventually, whether she confesses or not, but right now… I'm scared." There was hesitation in her voice as she spoke and the last two words were barely above a whisper. Both Shizuma and Miyuki looked surprised, then confused. They didn't see Nagisa as someone who got scared unless you attacked her, as clearly indicated by her actions so far. Nagisa could see the confusion and curiosity on their faces. "I… the last person I dated did something horrible to me last year. The things she did and the events that followed... because of it, I'm too afraid to date anyone. I'm surprised I actually got as close to Tamao as I have so far."

There was a moment of silence before Shizuma spoke up. "What did she do to you? What happened to make you so afraid?" Nagisa looked down to the ground, clenching the sides of her uniform tightly, visibly shaking at the memory. "Perhaps I shouldn't ask." Realization dawned on Miyuki as she put the pieces together. What Nagisa had referred to yesterday was most likely what Shizuma was asking about now.

Nagisa shook her head. She walked over to the door and looked out into the hall. She was somewhat surprised that the hall was empty, but she didn't pay it much mind and shut the door. "I found out something painful about your past that I had no right to know; it's only fair that I tell you about mine." Her voice was shaky and hesitant. She turned and walked back to the center of the room, pulling her left sleeve up. "I'll tell you what she made me go through and the things that followed…" She unraveled her bandages. "I'll tell you both of the pain I went through and the loss of someone's life…" She showed her wrist to the two girls, revealing a large scar across her wrist that got a shocked reaction out of both of them. "I'll tell you about what I went through that caused me to want to take my own life."

* * *

><p>A dreadfully uncomfortable silence filled the room when Nagisa finished revealing her past. The only sound that occasionally broke the silence was a random sob that Nagisa couldn't hold back. She had told these two every detail that she was able to force out, from the time her ex asked her out to a year later when she left therapy. These two knew too many of the dark secret she had when she herself did not believe she was ready to talk about any of it. <em>It must be karma. I mean, I went snooping around in their past to find out about the death of a loved one. Damn my fucking impulse.<em> That was the first thought that came to her mind in the hour or so it took to tell the story. It wouldn't have taken as long as it did if Nagisa hadn't had a panic attack when retelling part of it. Luckily, Miyuki seemed to know how to deal with it and kept Nagisa calm until she came out of it.

Nagisa had been staring at the ground ever since she finished her story. She couldn't find the courage to look in the eyes of someone who knew things about her that she wanted no one to find out. "Disgusting." The word that suddenly came out of Miyuki's mouth caused Nagisa to go stiff. It was one of the reactions she was hoping they wouldn't respond with. _It's only natural that they would think that about me now._ She hesitated before looking up at Miyuki. To her surprise, there was a look of complete rage on both Miyuki and Shizuma's face. "How anyone could do such a horrible thing to another person is completely disgusting. I hope that bastard rots in his cell." The complete shock of hearing Miyuki of all people curse left her too dumbfounded to reply.

"Yes. Whatever he gets is too good for him." Shizuma added, her anger matching Miyuki's. Her look quickly changed to be somewhat sympathetic. "This entire time, you've been silently dealing with your pain while putting on a fake smile to not drag others into your past, haven't you?"

A bitter laugh escaped Nagisa's lips. "Eight years of acting in plays had to pay off eventually. I've been treating this world like a stage and the role I've been playing is that of me from two years ago. That is the real me, or it was, anyway. I've had some time to try and deal with it, and I've slowly recovered a little bit to become more cheerful around people, but I can never completely go back to who I used to be. I lost everything because of them- my dignity, my friends, my school life, my innocence, my…" Nagisa's voice died off and she looked back to the ground.

Shizuma knew where Nagisa's list was leading and shook her head. "I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. That girl's death is not your fault."

A chill ran down Nagisa's spine. She gripped the sides of her dress tightly until her knuckles turned white. "How isn't it my fault? Her life was in my hands. I was the only one in a position to determine whether she could live or die, and I failed h-"

Nagisa was suddenly cut off when both Shizuma and Miyuki hugged her. "Don't say that. There was nothing you or anyone could have done. You can't beat yourself up over it. If you truly feel that you must carry the burden of her death then you have to keep living for her sake as well as your own, understand? It's not your fault that she is gone, but you can keep on living for her, understand?" Shizuma spoke in a surprising kind voice. Nagisa silently nodded her head. "The three of us share each other's secrets now. If you ever need anyone to talk to about what you went through, you can talk to either of us, got it?"

Nagisa was silent, but her body started to shake. Before Miyuki could ask what was wrong, she heard a few weak sobs that grew into full out crying. For the first time since that incident, Nagisa truly cried out her pain and sorrow. She also cried because she finally found two friends that she could talk to about her past. As she cried into the sixth years' arms, she knew she had finally taken her first step toward a better tomorrow.

Shizuma, Miyuki, and Nagisa have all taken their first step down the road to recovery.

_**Act I: End**_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: No one expects Miyuki to get violent, right?<br>**

**Chapter 7 took longer to write than I expected. I wrote the whole thing right after chapter 6, but I kept going back and changing things to try and get a chapter I was happy with. Hell, I went back and changed something while I was writing this author's note. I'm happy with most of this chapter, but some parts are still a bit iffy to me.**

**I wonder if I should change the category to suspense, because when you think you're about to find out something about Nagisa's past, you just get a little piece that brings up more questions. Does that make me sadistic or just evil?**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'd love to know what you all think.**


	8. Building Bonds

**Act II: A Shoulder To Lean On**

Nagisa finally understood why the halls were empty as she made her way back to her room. The story relating to Kaori had taken much longer to tell than either Miyuki or Nagisa had anticipated. By the time Miyuki had finished telling what she knew, it was already within an hour of lights out. Adding to that Shizuma's entrance and Nagisa's memories, the time to turn in had passed long ago. Nagisa parted ways with the other two as she quietly made her way around the second floor. _Ninja mode, activate!_ She silently moved down the halls, frequently stopping to check her surroundings for any movement. _I'm sure the Sister does a few sweeps to make sure no one is out past lights out, but she probably wouldn't be checking this late. Either way, I'd rather not get one of these lovely lectures I've heard so much about. I heard she even made someone cry, but that rumor wasn't from Tamao so it probably isn't true. _

Nagisa finally made it to her room and opened the door as silently as she could. After entering the room, she glanced over at Tamao and saw that she was asleep. _Tamao…_

"_I could have sworn that Nagisa-chan and Suzumi-san were a couple."_

"_You two look and act just like a couple, really. You two are together all the time and the way she looks at you is kind of…"_

"_Do you not like her?"_

Nagisa cursed under her breath. _I'm totally not ready to talk about that with her. Then again, I wasn't ready when I talked to Shizuma and Miyuki either. What a mess._ Nagisa changed out of her uniform as she thought about it. When she was getting into bed, a voice spoke up that made Nagisa nearly jump out of her skin. "You were talking to Rokujo-san for quite some time." _Romeo's flaming leotard! What the hell? _Nagisa sharply turned around to face Tamao, who was now sitting up. _Easy, Nagisa. Just act casual._

"Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?" She asked in a somewhat apologetic tone. _I guess I'm not the skilled ninja I thought I was._

"No, I hadn't fallen asleep yet." Tamao answered. _Was she up because she was worried about me? Ah, damn it._ "Where did you and Rokujo-san go? You've been gone for hours and no one has seen either of you since you left at dinner." _Did she ask around?_

"We went to Miyuki's room. She didn't want anyone to eavesdrop while we were talking." _There could be so many implications if I worded that any differently. In fact, there still are._ "Were you worried?"

"Of course!" She practically shouted before immediately covering her mouth. She lowered her voice and continued. "You were missing all night. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't worried?"

"I suppose, but it's not like Miyuki-san is some kind of demon that's gonna eat my soul or something. Now, if the Sister had asked to speak with me and I didn't return, that's when you should be worried." _Phew. Almost forgot the honorific._

"I guess so." Tamao was silent for a moment. "So, what were you two talking about that took so long?" She asked. Nagisa remained silent. "Nagisa-chan?"

"I'm sorry. I can't talk about it." Nagisa replied as she rested her head on her pillow. Tamao didn't say anything as she did the same. _Why do I feel guilty?_

* * *

><p><em>Darkness. Everywhere she looked, she could see nothing but a vast emptiness. As she looked around, a small flicker of light caught her attention. She had the feeling that she should back away, but her body suddenly pulled closer to it against her will. As she closed in on it, the speck of light suddenly exploded into a brilliant flash, blinding her and sending an intense pain throughout her eyes and to her brain. <em>

_As she tried to comprehend what had happened, she felt something like hands grab her and slam her into a wall that just formed itself into existence. A growl that could only belong to a demon roared from in front of her, but she was unable to see it. She couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was roaring resembled a human. She struggled desperately to escape the beast's grip, only for the creature to grip her arms tighter. A loud CRACK echoed throughout the void, followed by her shriek of pain as she felt her arm being broken at the elbow. _

_The creature seemed to laugh in amusement as it watched the girl cry and scream in pain before slamming her down to the nonexistent ground. The creature knelt over the girl, sniffing her and running it's hand down her battered and bruised body. It climbed over her and-_

Nagisa woke up early the next morning in a cold sweat. _Damn, the same fucking nightmare. Why am I not surprised?_ Nagisa turned her head to look at the clock. _Damn, it's early. Has the sun even risen yet?_ Nagisa got out of bed and changed into her uniform. _I need some fresh air. I'm not going to fall asleep again._ Nagisa looked at her arms and saw that she really was bruised. _Shizuma mastered the death grip. _She quietly walked out of her room and made her way downstairs. _It feels strange to walk through these halls when there is no one else around. It's like I'm in some horror movie and I'm about to get stabbed or eaten or something._ At that thought, Nagisa suddenly stopped and looked around cautiously. _No Head Sister. I guess I'm safe._

Nagisa walked out the front door and smiled slightly as the cool morning air brushed against her. She stretched her arms above her head as she walked around the dorm building. _I wonder how fast I could run around this building. Hmm…probably shouldn't do it in my uniform._

Nagisa looked around curiously as she suddenly heard the sound of galloping hooves. _Is that a horse?_ She ran around to the front of the dorm and stopped when she saw a horse carrying Amane and Hikari stop at the entrance. _Huh? It's Amane and that blond girl from the choir. Oh, the rumors that would spread if it was anyone but me who saw these two together._ She listened in on their conversation, but most of it escaped her due to her distance from them. She did hear something about Amane wanting to hear Hikari's singing again. _Oh? I wonder what happened this morning between them._

Nagisa could feel her impulses take over as she walked towards Hikari once Amane rode off. "It's warm." The blond said to herself as she put her hands over her heart. _Time to surprise her with a corny joke._

"Well it is spring, after all." Our protagonist spoke up, standing a few feet behind Hikari. The Spican jumped in surprised and turned to face Nagisa. _I do so much enjoy sneaking up on people._ "Isn't it a little early in the morning for a… rendezvous? I hear most people do it at some secret garden, not by the front gates." _Wow! Her blush has to be the deepest shade of crimson I've ever seen. Even the clumsy librarian has nothing on her! She must be one of those innocent types. Wait, stop thinking like this is an anime, Nagisa!_

"I-i-it's not like that!" _Her nervousness and embarrassment is so obvious._ "I was just singing earlier and Amane-sempai overheard me."

"And that led to her giving you a ride back to the dorm? That's strange. I've never heard of her doing that for any of her admirers before. I wonder what that could mean." She gave Hikari a suggestive look, making the blond somehow manage to blush deeper. Before Hikari could open her mouth to protest, Nagisa burst into laughter and pat Hikari on the shoulder. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't take it so personal." She said with a cheerful smile. "I'm glad to see you aren't feeling down after what happened yesterday."

Hikari had a look of surprise for a moment before she smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I was able to sing to her today what I was unable to sing yesterday."

"Sing to _her_? So I was right?" Nagisa grinned.

"N-no! It's not like that!" Hikari shouted, causing Nagisa to giggle in amusement.

"Okay, okay. I'm Aoi Nagisa, by the way. Nice to meet you, princess." _This is getting too easy._

Hikari was about to introduce herself, but she stopped and tilted her head to the side. "Princess?"

"Well, Amane-san is like a prince, so that would make you the princess, right?" Hikari took a moment to process this before it resulted in another mad blush.

"That's not funny!"

"Then why am I laughing so hard?" Nagisa asked, holding her sides as she laughed. Hikari crossed her arms and frowned for a moment, but soon enough, she started laughing as well.

"I'm Konohana Hikari." She introduced herself when the two of them finally stopped laughing. _For a second, I thought she was going to say Konohamaru and I would have been like 'No way!' and she'd have been like 'Duh.' and I would have been disappointed._

"Well then, Hikari-chan. How about I tell you the embarrassing story of the first time I performed on stage to make up for teasing you?" Nagisa offered as the two of them walked back inside.

Hikari looked surprised as she looked up at Nagisa. _Is it that big of a shock?_ "Were you in a choir as well?" _Oh._ Nagisa laughed in response and shook her head. "Were you some sort of dancer maybe? You seem like someone who has a lot of energy, so dancing sounds like it would suit you."

"Nah, I wasn't a dancer either. Well, there was that one time where there was a dance scene, but that isn't it." Hikari put a finger on her chin and tried to think of a different possibility. "It's acting."

Hikari gave Nagisa another surprised look. _That's not nice._ "Really? That's a little surprising." _That's _really_ not nice!_

Nagisa crossed her arms and frowned. "I'll have you know that I've been in some sort of play every year between the ages of five and fourteen, except for when I was six. Some years I was in more than one, too."

"I was just teasing." Hikari said with an innocent smile. _Oh, she's good. _

"The princess is teasing me now. I don't know if I want to tell my story or not."

"Aww, but I'd love to hear it." Hikari pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture. "Pretty please?"

"Alright, you win." Nagisa gave in with minimal resistance. "I think it was back in kindergarten? I can't remember which grade I was in back then and I'm too lazy to count back. Anyway, during mysterious grade X, our class decided to put on a play. Now that I think about it, it's pretty weird for a bunch of five years to be doing Romeo and Juliet, isn't it?"

Hikari nodded her head. "It does seem a bit strange. Did they change the script to make it more appropriate?"

"Not really. They tried, but it didn't really work and parts of it didn't make sense. They still had the scene at the end where Romeo and Juliet died. I don't remember how it was _supposed_ to go, but I remember how it went. Oh, right. I should mention that I was playing Romeo since I was one of the two tomboys in the class. Anyway, at the start of the scene, I slipped and fell off the stage."

Hikari covered her mouth. "Did you get hurt?"

Nagisa waved her hand dismissively. "Nah. It didn't really hurt until Juliet fell on top of me." Hikari looked confused. "The girl playing Juliet had a quick wit. The moment she saw that I was okay, she kept the play going." Nagisa took a dramatic pose with her head tilted up and her arm going across her forehead. "I believe the line she said was 'Oh, Romeo! I cannot alloy ye to be alone as you fall down this mysterious random pit of death!' and then she jumped off the stage and landed on me. People found it entertaining, but I felt so stupid for actually falling off. We ended up turning a dramatic scene into a comedy thanks to her."

Hikari chuckled a little. "She sounds like an amusing person."

Nagisa nodded her head. "Yeah. A-chan was awesome like that." Hikari tilted her head in confusion. "Ah, A-chan was the nickname I gave the girl who played Juliet. We were best friends until I moved to America. She was also the other tomboy in the class and we arm wrestled to play Romeo with the stakes being that the loser had to be Juliet. Now that I think about it, I probably would have hated acting and never would have done it again if she hadn't done what she did. I wonder how she's doing now."

Hikari frowned. "You two didn't keep in touch?" _Why does she sound sad? I mean, yeah it's sad and it sucks, but it was over ten years ago. We were five then. Well, I was five and she was four, I think. Oh wait, we weren't in a school play. It was at some daycare center we both went to. No wonder I couldn't remember. Where the hell did I get class from?_

"No, we didn't. I never got a chance to see her after it was decided that I would be moving to America, so I never even got to say goodbye." _I had actually forgotten most of this until now._ "Even worse, I can't remember her name anymore. I think it had an A in it because of her nickname, and I remember she called me Sa-chan, so I'm fairly sure that I remember that our nicknames were out of laziness more than anything."

"That's really sad." Hikari said in a sad tone. _Saying it like that is going to make me feel sad._ Hikari suddenly stood in front of Nagisa with a determined look in her eyes. "Don't give up! I'm sure you two will meet again someday!" _What's with the sudden enthusiasm?_ Nagisa couldn't help but smile and nodded her head. _Don't give up, huh? I suppose it wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen to me._

* * *

><p>The two of them split up after that so Hikari could go back to her room. After all, a student can't go to class in her pajamas. <em>It'd be the best school ever if we could. Then again, I'd feel sorry for anyone that slept in the nude. Or would they prefer that? Woah, seriously? That was <em>way _too_ _quick of a jump from pajamas to exhibitionism. What the hell am I thinking about? Wandering minds are a dangerous thing._

Nagisa decided against going back to her room and decided to wander around the halls until she found something interesting. It didn't take her long to find it. _No way. No way! I finally found them! There really are janitors! Well, they look more like maids than janitors, but I've finally found the cleaning crew! I wonder if they're combat maids. That would be awesome. Nah. I don't think anime is _that_ mixed into my daily life…yet. I should leave before those mops start firing lasers or something._

Nagisa leaned against the wall and let out a bored sigh. _It's so boring without anyone to talk to. I could talk to myself, but I already know that never ends well. If only there were someone to-oh, goody! It's Miyuki! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she's up early. Yay, boredom relief!_ "Mi-yu-ki!" Nagisa called out in a cheerful tone as she walked over to the blunette.

"Good morning, Nagisa." _Wait, what's that? She actually dropped the honorific! Success!_ "You're awake rather early. Were you not able to sleep after last night?"

Nagisa covered her mouth. "Oh my, Miyuki. You sure do say some bold things, don't you?" Miyuki immediately blushed and Nagisa grinned. After a moment, Nagisa dropped the joking tone and shook her head. "I didn't sleep much. I had another dream about what happened and ended up waking before sunrise. I'll be fine though. I'm used to the dreams by now, at least."

Miyuki nodded her head, deciding not to ask any further. "I'm glad that I caught you before breakfast. I want you to come to my room after dinner tonight."

Nagisa put hands over her cheeks and acted shy and embarrassed. "Wow, Miyuki. You sure have gotten bold lately. Aren't you supposed to take me out on a date before asking me to come to your room?"

"W-w-what? Th-that's not what I meant at all and you know it!" Miyuki shouted in embarrassment. _I'm getting good at this. I've embarrassed two girls already and I haven't even had breakfast yet._ "Honestly, what it is with you and Shizuma teasing me?"

"We do it because you give us amusing reactions every time." Shizuma answered, walking up to them from behind Miyuki.

"How I maintain my sanity with you two, I'll never know." Miyuki said with a shrug as she walked past Nagisa. "Don't forget, Nagisa." She added as she left, presumably to go to do some random duty of hers that Nagisa didn't know about.

"You've just gotten used to it!" Nagisa called out as Miyuki left. She turned to face Shizuma and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it as the two looked away from each other. Seeing each other for the first time since last night, they both realized that their new friendship was definitely off to an awkward start. To Nagisa's surprise, Shizuma was the one to break the ice.

"I think it would be better for all three of us if we try this over again." Nagisa looked up at Shizuma. The older woman held her hand out. "I am Hanazono Shizuma."

Nagisa grinned and shook Shizuma's hand. "Aoi Nagisa. I'll be in your care, _sempai_." She added the last word in a joking tone. "I think this friendship will work out perfectly if the two of us don't have another little brawl. You've got one hell of a powerful grip." Nagisa rubbed her arms for emphasis.

Shizuma made that _damn_ mischievous grin again. "It's perfect for when I grab a girl's-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Nagisa shouted, holding her hand over Shizuma's mouth. When she pulled her hand away, Shizuma still had the same grin.

"What was that for? I was going to say a girl's hand. What's so wrong about that?" Shizuma asked in an innocent voice.

"Yeah right. If you weren't about to say what we both _know_ you were going to say, I'm the queen of France."

"Bonjour?"

"I've already made that joke." Nagisa replied. Shizuma looked genuinely confused. "Nothing. Forget it."

"So Miyuki invited you to her room tonight?" Shizuma dropped her teasing tone.

Nagisa nodded her head. "I assume you'll be there as well?" _Otherwise, I can't imagine why she wanted me to come to her room._

Shizuma grinned again. _Uh oh. Here comes more of her lust-filled teasing._ "Do you want me to be there?" _I knew it. You'll never have a poker face to rival my own._

"For entertainment purposes, if nothing else." Nagisa replied with a shrug. "Not _that_ kind of entertainment." She quickly added.

Shizuma opened her mouth to say something but shut it and frowned when Nagisa interrupted her. "Killjoy."

Before Nagisa could reply with a witty retort- _I totally had one, I assure me._ –a few students walked downstairs and stopped to greet Shizuma. Shizuma smiled and greeted them in return while Nagisa just waved to them. _Well she's good at smiling for girls, I'll give her that much._

As the students walked away, she could hear them speaking to each other. "Was that the transfer student?" _Why do people not know my name yet? With all these damn rumors that start so easily like this one that's apparently about to be made, you would think that they would at least remember my name by now._

"Yeah, that's her! I wonder why she's up so early with Etoile-sama?" _Is it really that interesting? You two are up this early as well._ "Do you think there's something between them?" _We can't just be friends? Well, now I finally understand how it easy it is for rumors to start. That's so stupid._

"Now there's going to be another bogus rumor about me. Lovely." Nagisa sighed in annoyance.

"We could make it true, if you'd like." Shizuma offered in what Nagisa could swear was a seductive tone. _Some things never change._

Nagisa turned back to Shizuma, acting as if she was embarrassed. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away shyly. "W-we can't, sempai! Just think of the scandal it would cause!" She protested. Shizuma couldn't help but laugh and Nagisa giggled as well.

"You really are a good actor, aren't you? You said you've been in plays for eight years?" Nagisa nodded her head and Shizuma smiled. "I would love to hear about them tonight."

Nagisa nodded her head, a sincere smile tugging at her lips. "Sure. Just don't go saying things like 'tonight' out loud. I already have enough rumors about me to ignore; I'd prefer if you didn't add more to it."

"But it would give me something else to tease you about."

Nagisa scoffed. "With my superior acting ability, you wouldn't even know whether or not your teasing was effective. We couldn't have our Etoile-sama suffer an injured ego because she thought she had lost her touch."

Shizuma tilted her head slightly and smirked. "Maybe I've just met my match."

"Oh, such kind words." Nagisa put her hand on her chin, looking confused. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to swoon?" Shizuma chuckled and shook her head a little. When they heard the sound of other students leaving their rooms, the two decided to split. Nagisa wasn't sure if it was because Shizuma was trying to avoid spreading rumors, or if she just wanted to avoid having to greet a lot of people. _If it's not both, it's definitely got to be the second one._

This morning had definitely been what Nagisa needed after last night. She had forced herself to bring her walls down and she was desperately trying to build them back up quickly. Talking casually with Miyuki and Shizuma had given her some relief. They were clearly concerned about her, but they didn't watch her with pitying eyes as if she was some fragile glass that would break if they weren't careful with her. She knew that they weren't going to not bring it up though. You can't fix a problem by ignoring it, after all.

By far, the biggest help for her to put up her walls and act like everything normal was talking to Hikari, an innocent, easy to tease girl who knew absolutely nothing about Nagisa until she introduced herself. _And they say you're not supposed to talk to strangers. It's actually quite calming. Plus, I've got a new friend! Way to go, Nagisa!_

* * *

><p>Nighttime rolled around and Nagisa found herself to be strangely excited. She glanced up and down the empty hallway before knocking on Miyuki's door. A click echoed throughout the corridor as the door opened and Miyuki gestured for her to enter. As she walked in, she noticed a table in the middle of the room with a tea set on it. She also saw Shizuma sitting lazily on Miyuki's bed.<p>

"Aww. Shizuma's here too? I thought this would be our own private rendezvous, Mi-yu-ki~" Nagisa said as she looked back at the blunette with a lecherous grin.

Miyuki crossed her arms and frowned. "I-I won't give you the response you're hoping for."

"That would have sounded confident if you hadn't stuttered." Nagisa teased as she sat down on the bed.

Shizuma glanced over at Nagisa, feigning confusion. "Why couldn't it be a rendezvous just because I'm here?"

"Ooh~" Nagisa spoke up as if she just realized something. "So this room is to be used for our little ménage à trios? I knew you were bold, Miyuki, but I had no idea you were _this_ bold." Nagisa brought her hands up to her chest. "I feel as if my heart is about to burst."

Miyuki blushed a deep crimson and tried to shake the thought out of her head. "You're so evil. Why am I not surprised that you know what that means in French, even though you used it in the wrong context?"

"I know." Nagisa shrugged. "Threeway didn't sound as sexy though, and I don't know how to translate that in French."

"I know how." Shizuma spoke up.

"Don't tell her!" Miyuki quickly spoke up as Shizuma was leaning forward to whisper it in Nagisa's ear.

"Killjoy." Nagisa and Shizuma replied in unison. _That was cool._

Miyuki sighed. "Is it going to be like this every time?"

"Yes." They both answered in unison. _Holy crap._ They both exchanged surprised glances, but they just shrugged it off.

"Wonderful. I'm not sure I can handle it if you two are in such perfect harmony."Miyuki pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat down at the table. Shizuma and Nagisa grinned and sat down with her. They looked at each other and nodded their heads, then they both scooted closer to Miyuki.

Nagisa wrapped her arms around Miyuki's left arm as Shizuma wrapped them around her right arm. "We're sorry." _How the hell are we doing this?_ "We were just teasing you. Would a kiss make you feel better?" They voices and actions were perfectly synchronized.

"J-j-just kn-knock it off!" Miyuki shouted and quickly pushed them away, her face burning red.

"I think that was a magical moment of perfect harmony just for the sake of teasing Miyuki. It's like fate has conspired against you just to make you blush." Nagisa teased.

"I think we'll end up defying the laws of physics just to embarrass you." Shizuma added as she poured tea for the three of them. _I didn't know there was actually tea in there. _When Nagisa was handed her teacup, she sipped the tea. _Holy shit that's some good tea._ She ended up chugging the whole cup.

"That's delicious!" She said with a goofy cheerful smile. _It was so good that I didn't even notice how hot it was. My throat is on fire._

"Nagisa that was tea, not sake. You're not supposed to chug it." Shizuma said with an amused grin.

Nagisa tilted her head to the side. "Have you drunk sake before?"

"No, but there was this girl named Saki once that I-"

"Yes, yes." Nagisa quickly cut her off. "I'd love to hear more but I'm afraid elaborating any further would cause Miyuki to strike you with the teapot." _I won't let that girly flower design fool me. Teapots are a deadly weapon!_

"Oh? You'd like to hear more?" Shizuma smiled with that _damn_ grin again.

"Of course. I'd love to know _everything_ about you."

"That won't work on me. I'm not that easy to make blush."

Nagisa snapped her fingers. "Damn it."

"Anyway…" Miyuki spoke up, standing at her desk. _When the hell did she get up? Is this secretly a ninja academy? I will learn your secrets, you sneaky kunoichis._ "I was able to get those notes you asked for." Miyuki walked back over to Nagisa with a couple of notebooks in her hands. Nagisa took them and looked through them quickly. "I would have gotten them sooner but it took her a while to find them."

"Her, eh?" Nagisa asked with a mischievous grin, looking in one of the notebooks. "Well, the next time you see this Rokujo Miyuki person, give her my thanks." Nagisa said, facing the open notebook towards Miyuki to show that Miyuki had written her name on the first page of one of the notebooks.

Miyuki looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Damn it."

"Aww, Miyuki!" Nagisa suddenly hugged her. "You're my hero!"

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?"

"Nope! Before I came here, the only French I knew was ménage à trios and that was because I heard it in a pop song and looked it up."

"Are you sure you'll be able to pass even with those notes?" Miyuki's concerned look quickly became dull. "You can let me go now."

Nagisa pretended to pout but let go anyway. _She didn't use any ninja escape tricks. Very crafty, madam kunoichi._ "It'll be fine. I'm sure the oh-so-diligent president has wonderful notes. I'll definitely pass now."

"I'm surprised you actually still have them." Shizuma commented, looking through one of the notebooks she swiped when Nagisa wasn't looking. _Damn you ninjas!_

"It would be inconvenient if I threw away something I might need later. Turns out that keeping them actually paid off." Miyuki replied with a shrug.

"Oh-so-diligent indeed." Nagisa said before chugging another cup of tea. "So good~" _It didn't even burn this time! I wonder if that's a good thing._

"Well, enough about that. I think it's story time." Shizuma said. Nagisa looked up at them and saw them both looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, right. Well, when I was five years old, I was in my first play…"

* * *

><p>Nagisa found the next few weeks to be very enjoyable as she started a new daily routine. After classes, she would return to her dorm room and study Miyuki's notes until it was time for dinner. After dinner, she would return to her room to shower and change, then sneak into Miyuki's room where they would drink tea while telling stories about their past, have random girl talk, tease Miyuki excessively, and help Nagisa with her French when she needed help with something. Just before it was time for lights out, she would return to her room. On nights where she didn't meet with Miyuki because she and Shizuma were swamped with work, Nagisa would just return to her room and study.<p>

Every night she returned to her room, she would find Tamao sitting at her desk or on her bed. Each night, she would greet her with a smile and a "Welcome back." Nagisa didn't notice it at first, but each night she returned, Tamao's smile appeared more fake and fragile, and her eyes reflected a hint of sadness. Well, perhaps loneliness would be a more accurate description.

Nagisa thought she was just imagining things at first, but she eventually started building up a feeling of guilt and had to ask. After dinner one night, Nagisa waited on her bed for Tamao to finish showering instead of leaving to go see Miyuki and Shizuma. When Tamao came back into the room, Nagisa stood up. "Tamao-chan, are you alright?"

Tamao was surprised to see Nagisa was still in the room, and even more surprised by her sudden question. She put on a weak smile. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

Nagisa shook her head. "You don't have to hide it. You always manage to put on a smile for me, but I've seen your smiles enough times to know which ones are real and which are fake." Tamao's smile faded and she looked away from Nagisa, but remained silent. "…you're lonely, aren't you?" Tamao's eyes widened and she looked back up at Nagisa. "We come back here together every day, and every day I've been studying and then leaving without even talking to you. I'm sorry." _I said she was my best friend, but I've been neglecting her for over a week. Some friend I am._ "You're my best friend, but I haven't been treating you like it lately. I'm really sorry."

"It's not that. I'm worried about you. I know you have to study French because you're behind, but every night, you vanish and don't return until lights out. Where do you go every night?" Nagisa could see the concern on Tamao's face was genuine. _What a friend. I've been ignoring her lately and she's only worried about me._

"I've been going to Miyuki-chan's room to hang out with her and Shizuma-san. I guess it was rude to not ever say anything about it. Sorry."

Concern became confusion. "You've been going to see them every night? I thought you didn't even like the Etoile."

Nagisa rubbed her head. "I didn't for a while, but I found out some things about her past and we became friends after that. Those two know about my past and they've been helping me deal with it."

Tamao looked a little hurt. "You couldn't talk to me about it?"

"It's not like that." Nagisa replied quickly. "At the time, Miyuki-chan was just a friend and I still didn't really like Shizuma-san. If their opinions about me changed because of the things I told them about my past, it wouldn't be a big deal. You, on the other hand, are my best friend and if you suddenly have a different opinion about me because of my past, I'd probably be heartbroken. I've been telling you things about my past when I felt I was ready to, like when I told you about my parents. I wasn't ready to talk about them when I did, but I did it anyway. I don't want to tell you about part of my past because it feels like I'd be risking my friendship with you if I did. I don't know if you would look at me with disgust or pity, but either one would hurt."

"Nagisa-chan, you can talk to me about anything. I wouldn't hold something that's happened in your past against you." _I'm sure you wouldn't, but I'm most certain that you would pity me._

"I really wish I could believe that, but when it happened, I lost everyone close to me at the time. All of my friends abandoned me with a look of disgust that has been burned into my brain. The only one who didn't abandon me at the time was my own grandfather. Miyuki and Shizuma both surprised me with how they reacted, but I don't expect that kind of reaction from you. You say I can talk to you about anything, and I really wish that was true, but can you say the same thing after seeing this?"

Nagisa pulled her wristband off and showed her scarred wrist to Tamao. The blunette covered her mouth to prevent a gasp of surprise. Tamao had a look of total shock, which partially confused Nagisa. _The possibility had to have crossed her mind at some point when she noticed me always wearing bandages or these wristbands. Maybe she was just hoping it wasn't actually true._

Silence filled the room as time seemed to crawl to a stop. _I knew this was a bad idea._ "I thought so…" Nagisa mumbled, her voice portraying a great deal of sadness that she tried to hide behind her poker face. "Good night, Tamao-chan." Nagisa said as she turned around to leave the room.

"Wait!" Tamao suddenly grabbed Nagisa's hand before she could open the door. "I'm sorry. I was trying to think of what I should say, but my mind was drawing a blank." Nagisa looked back at Tamao, surprised that she even spoke at all. "You must have experienced something horrible in your past and there's no way I could find you disgusting for not knowing how to cope with whatever you had to face."

"But you-"

"I won't pity you either." Tamao quickly continued with a determined look in her eyes that silenced Nagisa. "I can't pity you, because I know that you aren't still seeking death. I see it every day. You're trying to live your life with everything you've got. Every morning, you talk to people you haven't met yet in our class and in the halls, trying to make new friends. Every afternoon, you come back here and study your butt off because you're worried about your grades. Every night, you go and see those two because you're trying to deal with the pain you've gone through. I won't pity you, because you do not pity yourself. You're my closest friend and you mean a lot to me. I won't ask you what happened that made you want to take your life, but I will always be here and willing to listen whenever you're ready to talk about it." Tamao smiled a reassuring smile- a real smile.

Nagisa was stunned into silence for a moment before pulling Tamao into a hug. "Thank you."

Tamao hugged her back. "Anytime." She pulled Nagisa away and turned her around. "Now get going. You're already late."

Nagisa looked back at Tamao with an embarrassed smile and then walked out of the room. She walked down the hall with a skip in her step, finding herself in a surprising good mood.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes: I wonder if it's alright for an angsty story to have a chapter that's like 60% humor? Nagisa even made a new friend!<strong>_

_**Nagisa's nightmare has been revealed! Sort of. I think I mentioned before in an earlier chapter that Nagisa constantly has nightmares and she tosses and turns and feels like she's being held down. If I didn't, then I must be incredibly indecisive in my writing and took it out. Oops.**_

**Obsidian and Cobalt**_** – I can only hope I know what you mean and that you're not a sadist like me :P**_

**kaname26 **_**– It wouldn't be any fun if I revealed who she's going to be paired up with. The only thing I can say for certain is that she definitely will not be paired up with Hikari or Amane, cause that'd just be weird. **_

**the cold raven **_**– it's always satisfying to know that internal dialogue can embarrass people in real life **_

**lord onion123**_** – you had some spot on intuition there. It almost made me want to change it just so I could say you were wrong, but that would just be rude. **_

**romancejunkie **_**– sorry, but I am a sadist after all and I have to keep everyone guessing for the greater evi-I mean greater good. Yes, good. **_

**shiznaga-**_** Thanks, but who gives what?**_

**Ctb **_**– the dialogue and interactions involving Shizuma and Miyuki generally won't hint towards something in Nagisa's past that hasn't been revealed. About the nightmare, are you sure you don't have intuition like lord onion? I'm feeling predictable here. As for flashbacks, there will be more in the future, but I haven't planned when they're going to be thrown in.**_

_**Spoiler Alert! **_

_**The first couple will be revealed in either chapter nine or ten. I will also soon be revealing who Nagisa's ex is and I bet none of you know who it is. Pro tip: Despite Nagisa mentioning that her ex was a girl, Shizuma's verb usage after the story indicates that it was really a guy. Can you figure out who it is? I'd be freaked the hell out and tell you to get out of my head if you did.**_


	9. Coincidences

Nagisa stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back towards their dorm room. She felt like she should go back, but also felt that it would somehow put Tamao's efforts to waste. _She cares. She really does care. The longer I keep her in the dark, the more I feel like I'm just stringing her along. I trust her more than I probably should. I also trust that she really will wait for me until I'm ready to talk to her. Still, that just makes me feel guilty. This isn't a fairytale. As much as I'd like to hope for one, there's no guarantee that I'll get the happy ending that I've been looking for._

She forced herself to walk downstairs and head to Miyuki's room. She wasn't ready yet, but she knew it was inevitable that she would speak to Tamao about it. For now, however, there was tea to drink! "Someone is in a good mood tonight." Miyuki noted as Nagisa walked in and plopped down by the table with her back against the bed.

"Really? I wonder who that could be." Nagisa said despite smiling like an idiot.

"Did something good happen?" Shizuma asked as she slid off the bed to sit next to Nagisa.

"Something like that. I showed Tamao my wrist earlier. She said she wouldn't pity me because I don't pity myself. Those words made me really happy and now I'm probably smiling like a giddy moron."

"You severely underestimate how goofy your smile looks right now." Shizuma quipped.

"She's right though. You've been trying to move on this entire time." Miyuki added, acting as if Shizuma had never even spoken. "That Suzumi-san has a good head on her. It's no wonder that you fell for her."

"No way! Even Miyuki is teasing me? What is the world coming to?" Nagisa pouted. "What about you, Miyuki? I bet you have some juicy love story to share. A bitter romance? Falling for a tutor, perhaps?"

"Aren't you the one that fell for your tutor?" Shizuma immediately cut in.

"S-shut up! I'm not in love." She paused. "I think." Nagisa rubbed her head in confusion.

"You don't know?" Miyuki and Shizuma both looked intrigued. _I'm clearly a mystery._

"I don't know what it feels like to be in love. I always assumed it was when you found a person that you would do anything for. I thought it would be that one special person that you would always go out of your way for, just to see them smile. Eventually, I realized that it isn't really like that. That's how I feel when it comes to all of my friends, so I don't know what the difference between a friend and a lover is." Nagisa sighed and shrugged.

"It's the person you want to have se-" Nagisa immediately cut Shizuma off by putting her hand over her sempai's mouth.

"Spare me your lust theories." She tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn't help chuckling at Shizuma's blunt perversion. _There's obviously more to love than just lust. Otherwise, why doesn't anyone ever give a prostitute chocolate on Valentine's Day?_ "Anyway, don't try to change the subject. I wanna know if Miyuki has any love stories. It would give me some validation when I tease her about it." She said casually and just grinned when Miyuki frowned at her.

"So I am to be the punch line either way?" Miyuki asked, sighing when Nagisa and Shizuma both nodded their heads. "Either way, I don't have any interesting love stories to share. Sorry to disappoint you." _I get the feeling that she's not sorry at all!_ "It was already decided who I would marry the moment I was born. Love has never really been a part of my life because of it."

Nagisa stared silently at Miyuki. "…what?" She couldn't understand how someone like Miyuki could say something so serious in such a casual tone. "An arranged marriage? In this day and age? That's just wrong. You should be able to marry the person you want to marry. Where's the love in an arranged marriage?" She suddenly grabbed Miyuki's hands. "You should marry me instead. I may not know what it's like to be in love, but there's totally some sort of connection here, even if it's just friendship."

Nagisa had a serious look on her face as she said this, but it quickly turned into a pout when Miyuki started laughing. "You shouldn't laugh at a marriage proposal! I'm totally putting my heart on the line here. Seriously." _Damn it. I thought I finally kicked the habit of saying seriously._

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that Shizuma said something similar when she found out about it as well." Miyuki said, trying to stop her laughs. Nagisa looked back at Shizuma who nodded her head in reply. "It's sweet, but it is what it is. Perhaps I'll fall in love with him some day." She shrugged.

"You shouldn't gamble on love so easily." _That sounds hypocritical coming from me._ "What's he like?" Nagisa asked after a minute when she realized there wasn't anything she could actually do about it.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. It's hard to really judge someone's character just from letters."

"Wait… what? You've never even met him?" Nagisa asked in astonishment as Miyuki walked over to her desk and started digging through a drawer. She looked at Shizuma when the older woman started chuckling. "Let me guess, you had the same reaction?"

"Yeah. It really made me mad when I heard it." She looked over at Miyuki who was pulling a few envelopes out of her desk. "You really do keep everything, don't you?"

"Not really, but trying to explain to my parents why I trashed all of these would be inconvenient." Shizuma was about to speak up but Miyuki quickly cut her off as she handed the envelopes to Nagisa. "No, you're reason of him looking like a child molester isn't a valid explanation."

"Even though it's true?" Shizuma asked.

"What does a child molester typically look like?" Nagisa quipped as she looked through the letters. "I don't think there's a standard, or at least I've never heard of one other than the fact that they all drive vans with 'Free Candy' written on the side. Also, this guy sounds so fake. It's like he was writing about how great he is to you just to boost his own ego. Why does his writing suddenly change around a year ago? It used to be so sloppy but the letters after that are written neatly and his ego isn't all over it."

"I'm not sure, really. According to the envelop they came in, the letters started coming from here in Japan. I guess he moved back at some point, but I don't know why his writing changed at the same time." Miyuki answered with a confused shrug. Nagisa picked up the envelops to check the address. When she looked at the address, she dropped the stack that was in her hand and appeared to become somewhat pale.

"Nagisa? Are you alright?" Miyuki asked, kneeling down next to her.

"Do you have any pictures? I'm curious now." Nagisa asked, her voice sounding strangely emotionless.

Miyuki could sense something was wrong, so she simply nodded her head and went back to her desk. "I have a picture he sent me two years ago in one of his letters. No, Shizuma, I didn't throw that away either." She added before the bishoujo could make a comment about it. Miyuki handed the picture to Nagisa.

"No way…" The picture crumpled in her hand as her grip on it suddenly tightened to the point that her knuckles turned white. Her other hand was gripping so tightly that her nails dug into her hand deep enough to draw blood. "This _thing_ is your fiancee? This _**bastard**_ is the guy you're supposed to marry?" Her emotionless voice was suddenly filled with a startling amount of venom that caused both older girls to step back in surprise. They both tried to say something but went quiet again when a bitter laugh forced its way past Nagisa's lips. "This must be some sort of sick joke. You've been engaged since birth to my ex-boyfriend?"

An uncomfortable silence followed for several minutes before Shizuma stood next to her and looked at the picture. "Are you sure?" She asked after waiting for Nagisa's anger to subside.

"Yeah, I'll never forget that name or face as long as I live." Nagisa set the picture down and picked up the most recent letter that Miyuki received. "Miyuki, I think you need to go see your family."

"What…" Miyuki tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Nagisa held the envelope out so that the address was facing Miyuki. "Think about it. He's been in jail for over a year, which is the same time when the address for these letters suddenly changed. The letters say he's back in Japan, but he's actually in an American prison right now. Even if he's still the one writing the letters, which I sincerely doubt since he probably thinks that any future plans with you are already ruined, he would be sending them to someone here in Japan, who would then send the letter to you. Who here in Japan would want to keep up the charade that he's still the same as he was before?"

"His parents." Shizuma and Miyuki answered in unison. _Under different circumstances, that would have been cool and I would have made a weird or stupid joke about it._

"Exactly. Now that I think about it, I don't think prisons send mail out internationally. I could be wrong, though. Either way, their son is in prison. There's no way that they wouldn't know about that by now. It's perfectly understandable for you not to know. Not once since I've been here have I seen a radio or television, let alone seeing someone actually use one. I wouldn't be surprised if none of the students here had a laptop either, since there probably isn't an internet connection around here. There's absolutely no way that his parents don't know about this by now. In fact, I'm fairly sure I saw his father during the trial, but I'm not entirely sure.

The point is, his parents are still keeping up this charade and claiming that he simply moved back to Japan. Putting his parents aside, the biggest problem is whether or not _your_ parents know about any of this. While it is slightly _possible_ that they don't know, it seems highly unlikely that they haven't heard about it after all this time. If they do know about this, why haven't they told you anything yet? It's been over a year, so they had plenty of time to say _something_, yet you were still completely in the dark about this and only found out because of this disturbing coincidence. "

The blunette crossed her arms and looked to be lost in thought, clearly considering the circumstances. "While it's true that I need to talk to them, I can't just get up and leave all of a sudden. I still have paperwork to do and room duty day is coming up in a few days as well. If I left tomorrow, I probably wouldn't be back until next week."

"What a very appropriate answer for a student council president. No wonder you were elected." Nagisa replied. Miyuki looked back and forth between her and Shizuma and saw they were both smirking. Nagisa glanced over at Shizuma and saw the smirk as well. _I think the three of us have been spending too much time together. It seems two of us are doing something in unison every other minute._

"Obviously. They wouldn't put someone in charge if they wouldn't do their duties."

"You've clearly never been to America." Our strawberry-haired protagonist quipped without missing a beat.

"Snrk." Shizuma quickly covered her mouth and looked away, trying not to laugh. Nagisa quickly looked at her with raised brows.

"That's the most unladylike sound I've ever heard anyone other than me make since I've gotten here. I think I'm impressed and I don't know why." _Shizuma has an odd sense of humor_. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about things like that." Nagisa turned her attention back to Miyuki. "You don't have any meetings with the other student councils coming up, right? Then you can leave everything to us. While I'm not qualified to do any of the paperwork like you and Shizuma are, I can certainly help the student council with room duty day. You've pretty much already mentioned what happens during it over tea, so I'm sure the three of us will manage."

"I don't know." Miyuki shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like passing my work onto others."

"Don't worry about it." _It's about time she recovered from her awkward laughter._ "I owe you for all the trouble I've been causing you lately anyway. I doubt she could mess things up that badly." Shizuma said the last sentence as she placed her hand on Nagisa's head.

"Oh my, whatever could you _possibly_ be implying by that? If I didn't know better, I would say I detected a bit of sarcasm." Nagisa suddenly jerked forward to try and bite Shizuma's hand. The older girl quickly backed up and fell on Miyuki's bed to escape.

"Can I really leave it to you two?" Miyuki shook her head when Nagisa pointed and started laughing at Shizuma. "Somehow, I feel worried."

Nagisa stopped laughing and looked over at the clock. "We're just joking around, but you already know you can count on us. It's what friends are for." Nagisa walked over to the door and looked back at them, her playfulness replaced with a more serious tone. "I really think that you should talk to them as soon as possible. I sincerely hope that your parents do not want you to marry a convicted rapist."

* * *

><p>The following afternoon, the three of them stood outside the school's entrance as Nagisa and Shizuma saw Miyuki off. She wanted the blunette to handle the situation as soon as possible, but she wasn't actually expecting her to leave the next day. Her family even had a limo ready for her. <em>Once again, I have underestimated high class society!<em>

"You're going to be so lonely, aren't you?" Nagisa asked Shizuma after the limo drove away.

"I can feel my heart aching already."

"Well there's plenty of paperwork just waiting to keep you company." Nagisa grinned. "You're going to get a hand cramp."

Shizuma grinned that _damn_ grin again. "If my hand cramps, I can always-"

"No."

"But, I-"

"No!"

"Nagisa is awesome."

"I know."

"Damn it!" Shizuma shouted as she snapped her fingers. "Am I getting that predictable?"

"I think the three of us have just been hanging out together so much that we can predict what we're going to do. I don't think it's natural for people to be in harmony as often as the three of us are." Nagisa shrugged. "I have to say that it is amusing since it's usually at the expense of the one that isn't synchronized, which is usually Miyuki."

Shizuma was about to ask something, but the two of them stopped to wave at a few students who were leaving school. "It's gotten pretty late if clubs are already ending." Nagisa noted as she smiled and waved at a few clearly excited underclassmen. She watched them walk away, whispering excitedly amongst themselves. Nagisa could have sworn one of them called her 'Aoi-sama', which nearly made her burst into laughter. _Next thing I know, someone's going to call me ojou-sama and I'm gonna keel over in hysteric laughter._ She looked up at Shizuma and saw her frown. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Do you really think Miyuki's parents knew about him?" _Ah. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she's worried. It's actually kind of cute how she can worry about others when she's not trying to grope them._

"I would like to think that they didn't know-" Nagisa shook her head, realizing that Shizuma would most likely want an honest answer. "-but reality is rarely that kind. I'm almost certain that they know. If it was such an important enough decision for them that they made it before Miyuki was even born, I would imagine that they would keep some sort of tab on him to make sure things like this don't happen. I think arranged weddings, especially ones that are arranged that early in someone's life, are more for the parents' benefit rather than the child's. What I'm worried about is not only the fact that they knew about it and kept it hidden, but why they didn't say anything."

"I'm guessing you have an idea?" Shizuma frowned at Nagisa's grim expression.

"Yeah. They were most likely not going to say anything until they found a new suitor for Miyuki to marry. I don't know her parents so I have little to base that theory on, but that's what I think their logic would be." Nagisa sighed. "I bet they're going to have a fight."

"Maybe we should have gone with her." Shizuma mumbled.

"If we weren't here, she wouldn't have left. We may have been some sort of moral support if we went, but it's a family matter. I'm sure she can handle it. You can support her by signing a couple hundred documents."

"Lovely." She sighed. "I can feel my hand aching already. It's not fair. I have to do paperwork while you hand out maid outfits to our kouhai. Something about that seems so wrong."

"I can only imagine how poorly things would go if you were the one handing out the uniforms. I'm sure you would whisper something outrageously perverted into their ear when you give them their uniform."

Shizuma grinned. "What would I say to them?"

Nagisa looked up in thought. "Let's see. I'm sure it would be something like offering to help them change, or that they wouldn't need to put on the outfit if they were assigned to your room. Then you would give them a perverted wink, the girl would faint, and then we'd have to inconvenience the nurse to take care of her. Did I hit the mark?"

"Nope. I wouldn't have to wink to make them faint."

"Ah, then I apologize for underestimating you, flirty-sempai." The two girls chuckled, but their laughter quickly ended as they approached the dorms and saw the other two members of Miator's student council waiting for them. "Duty calls." Nagisa commented with a sigh.

"I'm pretty good at escaping. Want me to teach you?"

"That might work for now, but Miyuki will kill us later. They've already spotted us anyway. Running away now would make us look like idiots."

"That's the price of freedom!" Shizuma quickly turned as if she was about to run away, but Nagisa grabbed her arm before she could step away.

"That's not funny and you know it." Nagisa rolled her eyes when Shizuma pretended to pout and pulled the older woman into the dorm.

* * *

><p>The two roommates stared intensely at the sheet of paper that laid in front of them. "Um…Nagisa-chan, is that a…?"<p>

"It's supposed to be a cat, I swear." The questioned girl put a hand over her face, failing to hide her embarrassment as her cheeks were colored in a bright shade of red. "I told you I can't draw." _It's drawings like these that spawn memes like 'kill it with fire'. _

"I…I think it's kind of cute. Sort of." Tamao's face couldn't even try to hide what she really thought.

"Your halfhearted words of comfort aren't very reassuring. For the sake of humanity, this picture must be destroyed." Before Nagisa could rip it to shreds, Tamao swiped it up and placed it in the box with everyone else's paper. "Tamao! Why would you do that?" Nagisa pouted, but became confused when Tamao blushed. _Aww shit. I forgot the honorific thing. Damn it._

"It's because that picture was very Nagisa-like." _Oh sweet. She dropped it too. Wait, damn it! That's not important right now!_

"For some reason, I feel like I was just insulted. Whoever draws our paper better not laugh at it or I'll make them… I don't know, clean the window with a toothbrush? Bah. I lost my train of thought." She looked up at Tamao and saw that oh-so-familiar smile that Tamao had whenever Nagisa did something that the blunette found to be cute. _She's mocking me._

"Aoi-san?" Nagisa looked up to see that the council members were waiting for her. She looked around and saw that everyone else had already finished and she and Tamao were the last ones. _How long had we been staring at my pitiful excuse for a drawing?_

"Right. See ya later Tamao." Nagisa stood up and waved at Tamao as she walked over to them.

"Don't push yourself too hard." Tamao said before leaving. Nagisa looked back and watched her leave before she could be asked to elaborate. _Huh? I don't think I'm doing anything difficult here._ She shrugged.

"Let's go! I've got kouhai to tease!" She shouted with sudden enthusiasm.

"We don't do that until tonight. We still have over two hours." Just as quickly as it rose, Nagisa's enthusiasm was shot down.

* * *

><p>No matter how many times she thought about it, the idea of having a maid was simply hilarious to her. It's not like she lived a poor, depraved childhood; in fact, her grandfather ran a business and they were quite well off. Even so, the idea of living in a mansion, riding in a limo, or having butlers and maids never once crossed either of their minds. To Nagisa, it always seemed like an arrogant way of the rich trying to say they were better than the poor. She never saw the purpose of it. After all, he who dies with the most toys still dies. <em>Or however that phrase goes.<em>

Nagisa poked her head around the corner and looked through the open door at all the nervous underclassmen. _I bet they're all worried about who they're going to draw. Oh, I so want to tease them!_ She looked back at the council girls and grinned. They looked at each other nervously and shrugged. They knew they weren't going to convince Nagisa not to do whatever she was about to do.

Nagisa quietly entered the room while the girls were talking among themselves and threw the lights off. There was more confusion than panic until Nagisa flung the doors shut. A couple of girls screamed and Nagisa had to do her best not to laugh too soon. "What do you think you're doing?" The door opened and the council members walked in and turned the lights back on.

Nagisa was standing on the table with the sheet that was sitting on it over her body. She screamed like a girl in a horror movie suddenly before anyone could register that she was standing there. "KYAAAAA!" The girls all turned to her, several of them jumping merely in surprise by the sudden scream. A few more screamed when they saw her. Nagisa erupted with laughter after seeing all of their reactions. The sudden laughter caused her to fall backwards off the table with the sheets flying off in a random direction. She didn't even feel any pain when she landed on her ass as she kept laughing. A few of the girls that Nagisa failed to scare were giggling as well.

"Nagisa, you idiot. Are you trying to give everyone a heart attack?" The two walked up to her and glared at her as they set the boxes down on the table.

"Sorry, sorry." She replied in amusement as she pulled herself up, wondering why her posterior suddenly felt sore. "Everyone looked so nervous that I thought I should lighten the mood. Sure, a few of them are still recovering from a sudden change in their heart rate, but other than that, you guys aren't so nervous anymore, right?" She smiled innocently at the group of kouhai, and to the surprise of all three older girls, most of them smiled back. _Hurray! I'm popular! That, or they're all planning their revenge behind innocent smiles._ "If it makes you all feel better, whoever draws my card/paper/sheet/thingamajig out of this box has a hilariously poorly drawn picture to laugh at." That earned her a few amused chuckles from random students. _They have no idea how serious I am._

"Alright, everyone! Once you've recovered, line up." She tried to sound serious, but it only served to further amuse the underclassmen after her totally non-serious series of actions. _They aren't going to take me seriously anymore. Oh well._ Nagisa turned around and pulled off her sunglasses. With her eyes closed, she turned around and gave everyone her sweetest smile. "Everyone line up, please." She could swear she heard a few squeals of excitement, but she wasn't going to be stupid and open her eyes to look. She put her shades back on and nearly jumped back in surprise when she saw them getting in line. _Woah. Maybe I really am popular. It must be thanks to the power of rumors. Scary._

As the younger girls lined up, Nagisa spotted the library assistant whose name she always wanted to find out but kept neglecting to seek her out to learn it. She was tempted to call out to her, but figured it would just embarrass her. Right before she looked away, she noticed the girl was stumbling and quickly moved to catch her as she was about to fall. "You really should be more careful."

A few gasps and more squeals made Nagisa roll her eyes, but then she realized why. She had caught her kouhai by grabbing her wrist with one hand and wrapping arm around the girl's waist. _Oh fuck. Shizuma must be rubbing off on me more than I expected. This is totally a situation I can see her getting in on purpose. Damn it._ She helped her stand back on her feet and looked around at the other girls who were staring at her. "Jealous?" She asked in a teasing tone. _Are they… are they blushing? What the hell? Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm the next Shizuma. We must be sisters or something._ Nagisa sighed. "Line up, people. We don't have all night. If we're all in here too long, the head sister will chew all our asses out." She instinctively looked towards the door, expected the sister to appear at that exact moment.

Somehow, Nagisa ended up being the one to sit in front of the box and say "Next, please" every thirty seconds. _I thought I was supposed to give them the outfits. This is boring._ "Next, please." Nagisa smiled sweetly for each girl as they drew for who they would be assigned to, but she started to feel like an idiot.

"Next, please." She called for the last person in the line, which happened to be the incredibly nervous library assistant. _She's so stiff. Either she's still nervous, or she thinks I'm going to scare and/or grab her again. It's so tempting._ When the girl pulled her paper out, a surprisingly cheerful smile appeared on her face. "Who did you get?" Nagisa asked, somewhat amused by the girl's sudden mood change. She turned the paper around and Nagisa nearly laughed when she saw her own horrible artwork. "Well then, I look forward to our year together."

"Y-yes! Thank you ver-" _**SMACK!**_ The girl rubbed her forehead. _I've never seen someone actually bow so quickly that they slammed their head into a table. I feel like she'll cry if I laugh._

"I should have asked this before, but may I have your name?"

"Tsu-Tsukidate Chiyo." She answered, still rubbing her forehead. _She sounds so nervous and she's clearly pretty clumsy and it's worse when she's nervous. It's so cute._

"I hope we get along well, Chiyo-chan." Nagisa gave her a sweet, sincere smile, but nearly lost it and laughed when Chiyo blushed.

"Y-y-yes, Nagisa-onee-sama!" Chiyo quickly grabbed her maid outfit and ran out of the room.

Nagisa tilted her head in confusion and looked at the two she was assisting. "Onee-sama?" They both just shrugged. _I guess it's better than ojou-sama.  
><em>

* * *

><p>Afterward, Nagisa stuck around to help clean up and put shit away. As she walked back to her room, she looked through the list of who was assigned to whose room, mostly out of boredom. <em>I wonder why I'm the one that has to hold on to this list. I know Miyuki is supposed to get it, but shouldn't student council members keep this? Ahh whatever.<em> Nagisa returned to her room where she expected Tamao to be chuckling at how nervous their maid was. When she opened the door, she was confused when she only saw one blunette in the room. "Our kouhai maid didn't come?"

"No." Tamao answered. "Do you think something happened?"

"I doubt it." Nagisa grinned and looked at the list in her hand. "Let's go visit our little sister." Tamao looked confused, obviously not getting her joke. Nagisa just shrugged and walked out of the room with Tamao soon following behind her.

A minute later, Nagisa suddenly knocked on the door to Chiyo's room, making sure to be obnoxiously loud to startle the girl. The quiet scream from behind the door meant that Chiyo was probably only a few feet away from it and she just scared the hell out of her. Again. Nagisa put her hand over her mouth to stop her laugh. _Teasing and scaring, I'm a master of harassment._

"Y-yes?" Chiyo asked nervously as she opened the door. Her eyes widened far more than what should be possible on any human. "N-N-N-Nagisa-onee-sama!" The girl nearly fell over in surprise.

"Onee-sama?" Tamao looked confused and apparently not bothered in the least that she wasn't seen by the younger girl.

"We've been waiting for you, ya know. I was worried that you might have tripped and hit your head again." Nagisa crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be mad as she scolded her. When Chiyo frowned and looked away, Nagisa smiled and placed her hand on Chiyo's head. "You aren't hurt, are you?" She sounded concerned. "I told you before that I was going to end up worrying about you, and it looks like I was right to."

"I-I'm fine. It didn't hurt at all." _That means she hits her head so much that she doesn't feel it anymore, or she's naturally hardheaded. Or both.  
><em>

"Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine. Please don't worry about me, Nagisa-onee-sama."

Nagisa suddenly hugged Chiyo. "Aww! She's so cute! Tamao, can we keep her? I've always wanted a little sister!" Tamao smiled in amusement as she watched her roommate make their new maid blush in embarrassment.

The sound of a woman clearing her voice caused all three of them to go stiff. Slowly, they turned their heads to see the head sister watching them from the doorway. Nagisa chanced a glance at the clock and saw that there were five minutes before lights out, which meant they weren't completely fucked over.

Nagisa quickly composed herself mentally, but didn't make any physical reactions and kept the same hold on Chiyo. "Good evening, Sister Hamasaka." The calmness in her voice caught both Chiyo and the sister by surprise, though the sister didn't show her susrprise. Tamao, on the other hand, didn't seem to react to it at all. _I guess she put two and two together after hearing that I used to act._

"The two of you should return to your room quickly. Good night." Just as quickly as she came, the sister was gone. Chiyo and Tamao sighed with relief.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes." Chiyo mumbled. Nagisa let her go and ruffled her hair a little.

"That was fun. We should do it again and see what happens." Both blunettes looked at her like she was crazy. _I don't talk to myself so I'm still sane, damn it. I'll keep telling myself that even if no one else belie-I think I just contradicted myself._ She frowned at them. "I'll have you both know that I'm still perfectly sane, so stop looking at me like that." Chiyo blushed and looked away while Tamao shrugged and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied innocently.

"Suuuure." Nagisa would have rolled her eyes but didn't bother since Tamao wouldn't have noticed it. "See you tomorrow Chiyo-chan." She gave her a hug just to make her blush, which was quite effective as the younger girl's face was completely red when she let go.

"R-r-r-right. S-s-see you t-t-tomorrow!" She called out as Nagisa and Tamao left the room. _I am so evil._

"You are evil." _Wait, what? Oh shit, it's finally happened! I started talking to myself out lo-oh. Oops._

"I am not." Nagisa pretended to look surprised and covered her mouth. "Could it be that Tamao is jealous?" When her roommate blushed, she grinned. She shut the door after they entered the room and gave Tamao a hug. "You shouldn't be. You're just as cute, if not cuter. Plus, I've never shared a bed with Chiyo-chan, so there's no reason for you to be jealous." She said in a somewhat seductive tone that caused Tamao to back away and hide her face in embarrassment.

"N-Nagisa!" The redhead laughed in amusement.

"Sorry, sorry. Too far?"

"Way too far!" Tamao nearly shouted. Nagisa put a finger over her lips.

"The sister is going to swing by and make sure we're asleep, you know." Despite sounding serious, Nagisa was still grinning. "Let's go to sleep before we get busted."

* * *

><p>Nagisa woke up the next morning feeling well-rested. She stretched under the covers and turned to find herself face-to-face with Tamao, both of them staring at each other awkwardly. "Good morning." Nagisa spoke up after a minute, sounding somewhat casual. Tamao had 'convinced' Nagisa to share a bed with her since it was 'the only privilege she had over other girls'. The argument was a joke, but Nagisa went ahead and agreed anyway. It wasn't a convincing reason, but Nagisa found that she much rather preferred sharing a bed with Tamao over sleeping alone. She avoided it for a while, but she realized the reason she liked sharing a bed with her roommate wasn't because it was something romantic. Nagisa realized at some point that she didn't have that same damn nightmare of that bastard whenever she shared a bed with someone else. Her pride prevented her from ever asking to share a bed, but she certainly wouldn't reject the opportunity for a good night's sleep when it was offered.<p>

"Good morning." Tamao replied as they both got up and got ready. Did sharing a bed mean that she liked Tamao? Shizuma and Miyuki's questions had crossed her mind once again, and she realized she still wasn't sure. At what point does friendship become something more? Was it really just adding lust into the mix? She wanted to ask those two about it. She even considered asking Tamao, but she realized that the answer is probably different for everybody.

The two of them stopped at the bottom of the stairs when they saw an underclassman offering to carrying an older girl's bag. The sight would have annoyed Nagisa more than it did if she wasn't preoccupied wondering when the hell they left their room. "Did you do things like that last year?" Nagisa found herself asking without thinking about it.

"Sort of. I always wore the apron though, because I thought it was cute."

"Really?" Nagisa gave her a weird glance. "I don't think green is a very appealing color."

"Nonsense. I wish I could have seen you wearing an apron, Nagisa."

"I wish I could have seen you wearing an apron, Hikari-chan."_ Hikari?_ A voice from behind them spoke nearly in unison with Tamao. The two turned around to face two Spican students, one of which Nagisa recognized instantly.

"Good morning, princess." Nagisa greeted with a cheeky grin while doing a slight bow.

"Stop calling me that!" Hikari frowned and crossed her arms in mock anger, but the two of them both chuckled. The two roommates oblivious to the joke looked back and forth between the blond and redhead, then looked at each other and shrugged. It was the most impressive display of synchronicity Nagisa had ever seen between two apparent strangers.

"Do you two know each other?" Tamao asked Nagisa at the same moment the girl with brown eyes asked Hikari. They looked at each other again, then at Nagisa when she started laughing.

"Strangers aren't supposed to be that in sync with each other." Hikari was also chuckling because of their actions. "We've met before and I'd say we get along pretty well, right?" Hikari nodded her head in response when Nagisa looked at her.

Realization seemed to dawn on the raven haired girl as she spoke up. "You're the new transfer student, Aoi Nagisa, right?"

"Well, I don't think I still qualify as 'new' anymore, but that's right, more or less." Nagisa sighed. "Am I really so popular that everyone knows who I am? I mean, I know the shades make me stick out, but I'd like for once to meet someone in this school and be greeted with a 'Who the hell are you?' It would totally make my day." Although all three of them smiled, the unknown girl seemed the most amused. _Could she be a fellow comrade in the smart ass department?_ She assumed the girl would have made a comment that would have been amusing, but the look on her face indicated that she noticed the first year with the older girl from earlier.

"Room duty day, huh? It must be nice to be in Miatre where the first years are so cute and innocent."

Nagisa looked at her new, mysterious comrade in confusion. "The first years in Spica aren't cute?"

The stranger frowned. "Well, speaking of our first years-"

"What about the first years?" A voice came from a few steps above them. _Where the hell did she come from? Damn you people and your silent steps! What's with everyone being a master of stealth!_

"She's here!" the black-haired girl said in a sarcastic surprised tone.

"What do you mean 'she's here'?" The new girl frowned.

Before either of them could say anything, Nagisa spoke up. "What are you talking about? She's cute as hell."

"Wha-who are you calling cute?" _I guess I lost that bet. She's not a yandere after all._ The younger girl asked with a frown, turning her head slightly in a poor attempt to hide her blush. Nagisa pointed accusingly at her.

"I'm obviously calling you cute. The long pink hair, the sweater, the tsundere attitude; you've got 'moe~' written all over you!" The raven haired girl turned away and laughed into her hand when Nagisa called the kouhai a tsundere. _Either she thinks I used it randomly, or I hit the mark._

"What the heck is 'moe'?" _She completely ignored the tsundere comment._ Instead of answering, Nagisa pointed at her again and mouthed the word 'You'. "Anyway…" _She's trying to ignore me! I'm almost hurt!_ She walked down the stairs and handed some notes to the other Spicans. "Yaya-sempai. Hikari-sempai, you forgot your choir practice notes." Her anger seemed to have deflated rather easily and the girl called 'Yaya' seemed relieved.

"Ah!" Hikari seemed to have realized that she really did forget them. "We completely forgot them." _This Yaya might be one thing, but I'm surprised Hikari forgot them since she'll probably be singing to her prince again._ "Thank you, Tsubomi-chan." _I'm so going to forget her name and call her Tsundere-chan one day. I can see it coming._

"You don't need to thank me. It was just on the way. We're starting a new song, so it'd be bad if you didn't have them." Tsubomi mumbled, looking away as she spoke. _100% tsundere._

"We? I remember seeing you two on stage in the choir before, but is Tsubomi-chan in the choir as well?"

Yaya grinned an evil smirk that Nagisa was all too used to using herself. "That's right. I think Tsubomi-chan only joined the choir for the sake of Hikari-chan, right?" She looked at the pink-haired girl accusingly.

A brief hurt look flashed on the tsundere's face, but only Nagisa seemed to notice it before her expression quickly shifted to one of panic. "Why do you ask that, Yaya-sempai?" She sounded almost hysteric as she asked. Nagisa almost thought that the girl was overacting whatever role she was trying to play, but perhaps given her normal tendencies, it seemed to suit the situation quite well and passed off as normal and believable.

"Because it's the truth~" The first year seemed to become frustrated at Yaya's response. She found the girl's reactions to be curious and inconsistent, and she definitely wanted to find out why; however, she could tell Tsubomi wasn't able to keep this up and decided to interrupt.

"How long are you two planning to flirt so openly like this?" All four of them looked at her as she randomly spoke up. She noticed that Yaya seemed amused by the comment, but Tsubomi seemed embarrassed. "Perhaps we should talk somewhere else where less people are going to stare at us like we're a bunch of loons. You three want to come up to our room?" She offered.

"I think Chiyo-chan should be there as well." Tamao added, and then smiled that far-too-familiar smile. "Perhaps we could borrow her apron and let everyone wear it." _She really wants to get me in that apron, doesn't she?_

Nagisa glanced at the three Spicans and grinned. "That's a great idea. I bet Hikari would look super cute in it." _She's totally putting it on before I do. _She looked at Yaya, then up at Tsubomi. "Don't you two want to see?"

"Yes!" Tsubomi blurted out, seeming to not realize it until after she said it. She quickly covered her mouth and made up some half assed excuse about it being rude to reject their sempai's hospitality. _A true tsundere. My life is officially qualified to be an anime._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes: Le shocking truth, revealed! Well, I suppose it isn't that shocking since at least half of you probably figured out that there was rape in Nagisa's past. <strong>_

_**Although no male actually appears in the anime, there are very few mentioned in conversation, and the most obvious one and I'm pretty sure the only one that isn't related to anyone by blood is Miyuki's fiancée. Turns out that he's a total scuzzbag. **_

_**I had a bit of writer's block so this took longer than I expected it to. I hope it was worth the wait.**_

_**Ten reviews in a week? Can you say awesomesauce? Cause I'm totally tasting it right now.**_

**Obsidian and Cobalt – **_**I had a roommate once that pretended to be asleep and when I got in bed, she told me that my shoes were squeaky. Scared the living hell out of me. I hope this chapted didn't disappoint :P**_

**Gin no Okami – **_**Wait no longer! **_

**the cold raven – **_**A straight protagonist in one of my stories? I couldn't even dream of that. ShoujoAi4Life**_

**shiznagisa- **_**I'm sorry but I'm really not sure what you're saying.**_

**Artful Lounger – **_**I checked it on my computer and a different one with and without logging in and the chapter looked right to me. I'm not sure why it would appear cut off. Was it scrolled over?**_

**Grammar Nazi – **_**I knew it was only a matter of time before the a grammar Nazi finally caught me! In my defense, my French is worse than Nagisa', I don't know how to spell fiancee properly either so you don't have to correct that. :(  
><strong>_

**romancejunkie – **_**You are correct about there being rape and her attempt to kill herself afterward. What else happened will still be a secret for now because I'm evil, after all. As for how much the sister knows, I haven't really thought of a place to put that in. She'll certainly know anything that would be related to medical history, including mental health which would include her time during mental instability when she was on suicide watch after her suicide attempt. Don't think I'm revealing a secret by saying that since most people are probably watched for a while after attempting suicide.**_

**GameMaster20 – **_**Were you surprised by who her ex is? I'm totally expecting people to be like 'wtf that was random you ass' or something. It's always good to know someone likes my attempts at humor.**_

**imaspfan – **_**I'm certainly not planning on quitting anytime soon!**_

**KittyAttack – **_**im liek tots glad u liek it. Photophobia can be developed in several different ways, such as damage to retina or other parts of the eye. Although she doesn't know specifically what happened, it's mentioned that it occurred as a result of the car wreck. She could look it up in the medical records to get the exact reason why, but after ten years, she has no reason to. Her passive attitude towards it pretty much indicates that she's already learned to live with it and doesn't let it bother her anymore.**_


	10. The Roses Are Blooming

_So now that I've pretty much collected all of the evidence that I need to determine that my life is officially an anime, I wonder if I should start treating it as one. Will I randomly walk in one day on Tamao changing and pass out while blood gushes out of my nose? If I'm the protagonist, will I be able to raise all the proper event flags to unlock the harem ending? Oh, the possibilities are endless!_

**SMACK!**

Lost in her delusional train of thought, Nagisa had stopped focusing on where she was going and walked right into a wall. She fell backwards to the floor and staried at the ceiling in a daze. "Ow…" She mumbled, rubbing her nose. _Perverted scenes are supposed to give me a nose bleed, but running into a wall doesn't do anything? Well, it hurts. A lot. Owie…_

"Are you alright?" She could see three heads appear in her line of sight, belonging to Tamao, Hikari, and Tsubomi. She was about to question why Yaya wasn't there as well, but quickly found her answer when she turned her head to the sound of laughter. She could see Yaya holding her sides, laughing her ass off at Nagisa's expense.

"You shouldn't laugh at other people's expense." She said with a pout after getting back to her feet.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. I've never actually seen someone walk straight into a wall before." Yaya tried to look serious, but she immediately had to put a hand over her mouth to stop another laugh from getting out.

Nagisa glared at her. "You're sitting on the floor."

Hikari stood next to her and had what appeared to be a concerned look on her face. "It could be karma." _Even she's mocking me?_ Nagisa looked back at Tsubomi and Tamao for support. Although they both looked concerned, Tamao looked like she wanted to laugh.

"Et tu, Tamao?" Yaya stopped holding back her laughter and Hikari giggled. Tamao tried to look apologetic, but the blunette was smiling a little. "You're all sitting on the floor! At least Tsubomi-chan isn't laughing at me."

"Of course. You could have actually gotten hurt. I can't believe you three would laugh at that. What if she broke her nose?" _Aren't you being a little too serious?_

"At least Tsubomi-chan is on my side." She put her arm around the pinkette's arm. "I'll share my bed with you."

"Nagisa-sempai! That sounds so dirty, you idiot!" _I didn't even _mean _to make a dirty joke that time. DAMN YOU, SHIZUMA!_

A sneeze came from the floor below, but that was _completely_ unrelated.

The girls followed Nagisa as she dragged the blushing Tsubomi by the arm back to her and Tamao's room. Tsubomi didn't bother to try breaking free, most likely due to the lack of necessity more than anything. She wasn't stupid. She knew Nagisa didn't mean it in a perverted way, and Nagisa could tell. On the other hand, the reason she wasn't going to let go is because the younger girl called her an idiot, so embarrassing her suddenly skyrocketed on Nagisa's list of priorities.

As they walked back to the room, Nagisa stopped when a few girls were staring at her. "Um…can I help you?"

"Cheating is wrong, you know." Generic Girl A spoke up. _What?_ Nagisa looked at them like she was speaking French. "Just because Rokujo-san isn't here, you shouldn't start flirting with other girls." _What the hell is she talki-oh for fuck's sake._

"Wait, what?" Generic B looked at A. "I thought Nagisa-chan was dating Etoile-sama. They're seen together all the time." _You have got to be shitting me. People actually believe that shit?_ "I can't believe she would cheat on the Etoile with another girl." Nagisa pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"W-w-w-what?" Tsubomi's voice was slightly high pitched and her face was a shade of pink that matched her hair perfectly. _Revenge~!_

"That's stupid." Nagisa spoke up, sounding slightly aggravated. "Just because I became friends with them, _someone_ decided to spread rumors that I was dating them? Since when did I become part of some love triangle?" She looked at Tsubomi. "Or love square, I guess." She grinned and suddenly pulled Tsubomi into a hug. "Tsubomi-chan is the only one for me~" The two girls gasped.

Tsubomi immediately denied it in embarrassment. "She's lying! Nagisa-sempai is just being an idiot!" _She called me an idiot again! I am so going to-_ When Yaya's laugh erupted from behind them, Nagisa could see Tsubomi's flustered face suddenly shift to a sadder expression. _Ah. So that's why. So I really am an idiot._ Nagisa sighed and let Tsubomi go.

"I don't know who spread those rumors about me, but they're false. I am currently single, and I have been single the entire time that I've been here. Rokujo-san and Shizuma-san are nothing more than friends. Would you two be so sweet as to spread _that_ rumor around?" Nagisa gave them an innocent and sweet smile, but they both could sense the sharp edge in her words. They quickly nodded and scurried off. _I wonder how fast and how much that rumor is going to be skewed into something worse. _As she watched them run off, she pats Tsubomi on the head. "Sorry, Tsubomi-chan."

"It's fine." She mumbled, looking away.

"You really are popular, aren't you?" Yaya asked as she watched the two girls run away.

"What can I say? It's a blessing and a curse." Nagisa shrugged. Before anyone could add anything else, the sound of things falling over came from Nagisa and Tamao's room.

"I think we're being robbed." Nagisa spoke in a falsely serious voice.

"We don't have anything worth stealing." Tamao said with a frown. _She's not amused. No one appreciates my sense of humor at all. _Nagisa sighed and opened the door.

"I told you we've been robbed." Nagisa replied as she entered the room, looking at the pile of assorted junk tossed around the center of the room. "I'm not sure when we ever had a mop or a bucket, though."

"It looks more like someone let a cat loose in your room." Hikari said as she walked behind her.

"A cat with a mop and bucket, apparently." Yaya added, standing next to Hikari.

Nagisa looked back at them, grinning devilishly. "Perhaps the dorms are haunted?" Hikari and Tsubomi both gave her a nervous look, which only made her smile widen. When they're nervous stares began to appear even more frightened, she turned around and saw the sheets rising. "Oh, jolly good. I was right." She pointed accusingly at the sheets. "Oh demon of restless nights, I shall exorcise you!" She was about to kick the sheets, but stopped her foot when she saw green clothing underneath it. _A maid outfit?_ She walked up to it and brushed the sheets off.

"Chiyo-chan?" Tamao asked as they all stared at the first year who was rubbing her head as if she had hit it. _Knowing her, she probably did._

"It hurts…" Chiyo mumbled. _Yup. She hit her head._

Nagisa sighed and rubbed Chiyo's head with her hand. "I'm buying you a helmet."

"Eh?" Chiyo looked up, seeming to not have realized that she wasn't alone until now. Her cheeks immediately lit up in embarrassment upon seeing three people look at her with concern and two of them looking at her with amusement. "That's a pretty mean joke, Nagisa-onee-sama." Nagisa could only assume that Chiyo was at least attempting to be serious, but the fact that she was blushing, stuttering, and looking down at the ground didn't help much.

"What happened here?" A distinguishable and frightening voice asked from the doorway. The group slowly turned around to face the head sister.

"I tripped." Nagisa answered, feigning embarrassment by stuttering slightly and rubbing the back of her head. The sister gave her a skeptical look. "…twice?" She only narrowed her eyes, and then shook her head.

"Aoi-san, come with me to my office." The sister ordered before turning around and walking back to her office, apparently expecting the strawberry-haired protagonist to follow her.

"Now you should be worried." Nagisa whispered to Tamao as she walked past the blunette and out of the room.

* * *

><p>"Of course that's not true!" Nagisa nearly shouted in anger. The sister gave her a sharp look and Nagisa tried to force herself to calm down. "I'll admit that I'll tease people with words, and I'll hug my friends because they're my friends. You've read my medical records, and I'm certainly sure you were able to piece together what happened to me, right?" Nagisa sounded calmer now. The sister nodded her head in response. "Then you should know that these rumors about me going around and <em>groping<em> girls randomly are complete lies. I would never touch someone I didn't know like that. I can't even believe such a rumor is going around!" Her anger was rising again as she spoke. _Fucking gossipers and rumor lovers. I will so kick the ass of whoever spread this kind of bullshit._

"I thought as much." Nagisa's anger seemed to deflate a bit at the unexpected response.

"R-really? I'm happy that you believe me, but why do you?" _Why am I even in trouble for that kind of rumor? It's just a baseless rumor, but the person who actually does that doesn't seem to ever get in trouble for it._

"I'm not in a position where I can judge who is lying without hearing both sides. When I was told about these rumors, I obviously had my doubts. I know what kind of person you are and I know what you've been through, but I had to hear it in your own words before I could pass judgment. Rumors are nothing more than rumors, after all." Nagisa could swear that the sister smirked, but then realized she was clearly becoming delusional because of her frustration. That was the only way that became logical. "Do you know why a rumor like this would start?"

"I would like to say I didn't, but it's pretty obvious when I think about it. Rumors are something that can start from any false premise in almost an instant. My guess would be that the rumors about me dating Miyuki-san and Shizuma-san, both of which are false, might have caused someone to hold a grudge against me. It's simple jealousy. The two of them are both regarded highly within the school, so the new kid coming in and becoming friends with them so easily-" _Easily as far as anyone else is concerned. _"-could cause someone who has been here for a longer time to become jealous. Honestly, the only people I wouldn't suspect of doing this would be the first years."

Nagisa sighed. "I wouldn't bother looking into it too much. Rumors like that are obviously misplaced to those who have met me before. I've met a good percentage of students in Miator already just by talking to them between and after classes. I've also met random students in the other two schools during lunch, as well as randomly speaking with students that live in the dorm, so I would think I have more friends than foes." _Plus, I can't kick this chick's ass if the sister finds her first._

"Very well then. If you're not worried about it, I won't pursue any further action." _Well, at least I'm not in trouble. I thought I was being sentenced to the gallows when she wanted me to come here._ "There is another reason that I called you here." _Damn it!_

"Ma'am?" Nagisa asked with innocent confusion in her voice.

"As you may know, Spica and Lulim don't do room duty day like we do at Miator." Nagisa nodded her head. "Due to the first years picking who they want to be assigned to, some of them end up paired with older students that aren't effective at tutoring them in the subjects they need the most help in." _Oh right. We're supposed to tutor our kouhai in exchange for the maid thing. Wait, wouldn't you run into the same problem with drawing lots like Miator does? In fact, that seems like you'd have more trouble pairing up with people with the knowledge you need._

"So, you want me to help tutor a first year who needs help?" _If it's French, I'm gonna laugh my ass off._

The sister nodded her head. "That's right. The girl I would like you to tutor is Okuwaka Tsubomi." _Tsubomi is struggling in a class? That seems unlikely._

"Are Hikari-chan and Yaya-chan both bad at the subject she needs help with?"

"Not exactly. Okuwaka-san is struggling with English, which happens to be Konohana-san's worst subject." _Konohana? That's Hikari, right?_ "As for Nanto-san, well…" She looked like she wasn't sure how to word whatever she wanted to say. _Given the way Yaya treats Tsubomi, it's obvious why she wouldn't make a very good tutor, but the sister shouldn't know about that._ "Given Nanto-san's rather _carefree_ attitude towards academics and her record of skipping classes, I don't feel she would be the best tutor." _What a roundabout way of saying Yaya is an above average slacker._

"But you feel that I am?" Nagisa found it almost humorous and she had to stop herself from grinning.

"Indeed. Living in America might have played some role in it, but you have some of the highest marks in English, and you have outstanding scores in _most_ of your classes." _Ha ha. She knows I can't speak French worth a damn. I'm learning, damn it!_

"Tsubomi-chan is my friend, so I would be glad to help her out. I'll let her know tonight." Nagisa smiled. _I can't really blame her for having trouble. Unlike most schools, this school's curriculum requires Japanese, French, and English. It's not difficult to believe that a first year would struggle with having classes in three different languages. _

The head sister sighed in relief. _Was she expecting me to say no? Maybe she was really worried? I bet Yaya causes all sorts of trouble if the head sister of a different school feels that way about her._

With that taken care of, Nagisa excused herself to return to her room. When she walked back in, she saw Tsubomi and Chiyo sitting on her bed, Yaya and Hikari sitting on Tamao's bed, and Tamao sitting at one of the desks. Apparently, they had cleaned up while she was gone, but there were more pressing matters to deal with. "I told you three to sit on the floor!" Well, make that matter. She shook her fist angrily at Hikari and Yaya since Tamao was closer to the first years.

"We forgot." Yaya replied instantly with a smirk.

"Maybe if you didn't slack off so much, your thoughts would be more organized." Nagisa replied nonchalantly as she plopped down on her bed next to Chiyo.

Tsubomi snorted. "Good luck with that. I've been telling her that for over a week. It's never going to happen." Yaya frowned and glared at them both, causing Chiyo to feel awkward since she was sitting between them both.

"I think my work ethic is my concern and mine alone."

"Nope! We _all_ care. As your friends, we have the explicit right to intrude upon your personal life and harass you until you improve it." Yaya didn't know whether she should be more concerned about what Nagisa just said, or how sweet she sounded when she said it. It seemed so _evil_ for some reason.

"A-anyway…" Tamao interjected, preventing things from escalating. _Aww. I wanted to hear what sort of witty remark she had next._ "It's almost time for dinner. I think we should head down now." _Really? How long was I in her office?_

Yaya's eyes suddenly lit up. "I've got an idea. Why don't we hold a tea party at night?" _She really doesn't care about school rules at all, does she?_

"A midnight tea party?" Hikari looked intrigued.

"Don't you know what will happen if we get caught?" Tsubomi spoke up, apparently in lecture mode again.

"Doesn't that make it more fun? Perhaps we could make it a game to try and not get caught." _A game? Oh, this should be fun._

"That does sound pretty fun. If we're going to do it in our room, where are your rooms at?"

"M-my room is just at the end of the hall and around the corner." Chiyo answered first.

"Our room is at the end of Spica's dorms closest to Miator's section." Hikari followed.

"My room is at the opposite end of the dorm. I'm right next to Lulim's section, so I'm the farthest distance possible, really." Tsubomi frowned. She did _not_ want to get caught.

"Hmm…" Nagisa tapped her chin in thought. "Then to make it fair, we should do teams of two. Tamao pairs with Chiyo-chan, Hikari-chan with Yaya-chan, and I'm with Tsubomi-chan."

"What's your logic behind these pairs?" Yaya sounded like she was trying to question Nagisa's madness, but her face showed that she was clearly looking forward to it.

"Simple, really. Tamao and Chiyo are the closest, but Tamao will have to go to Chiyo's room, then the two of them will have to sneak back. They have no experience with sneaking around in the dark. You and Hikari-chan aren't used to walking in the dark either, but you both start from the same room and aren't much farther away than Chiyo's room is. Tsubomi's room is the farthest, but unlike the rest of you, I'm used to traversing in the dark." Nagisa tapped her sunglasses, but realized there was no point to it since Tamao was the only one that knew why she wore them. "That's about as fair as the teams can get." Nagisa was sporting the Cheshire grin. Sneaking around with someone else seemed like it would be twice as fun as sneaking around alone.

"We should up the ante a little. Whoever gets caught can't rat out the other two groups. It makes sure that only the losers lose, and it also adds the risk of getting into more trouble if another group is caught." Yaya's grin could rival Nagisa's, and the redhead had to admit that she was impressed with her way of thinking.

"Brilliant!" Nagisa rose to her feet with enthusiasm. "This is going to be so fun~"

"It does sound pretty interesting." Tamao had her classic 'Nagisa is being cute' smile on. Chiyo and Hikari both nodded their heads, but Tsubomi looked nervous. _She really doesn't want to get in trouble, does she? Well, I'm not going to let her get caught. I am a ninja, after all._

"Then the game is on!" Nagisa pumped her fist in the air for emphasis.

* * *

><p><em>Sneak sneak sneak.<em>

She stopped and poked her head around the corner, looking down the dark hallway for any sign of movement. Taking a quick glance behind her to see that she was alone, she quietly sprinted down the corridor.

_Sneak sneak sneak._

She abruptly came to a halt in front of her target door, nearly tripping in her excitement. _Destination reached. Aww yeah! I'm not just a ninja; I'm_ the_ ninja!_ She lightly tapped her knuckles on the door three times, and then listened for movement. The door slowly opened and Nagisa could barely make out the pink strands of hair from the girl hiding behind the door. "You're early." She mumbled.

"I wanted to talk to you about something and I didn't think it was a good idea to bring it up in front of everyone." Nagisa's voice was rising in volume as she spoke, causing Tsubomi to swing the door open and pull her into her room.

"Idiot! Are you trying to get caught?" Tsubomi shut the door and glared at Nagisa, who just grinned in response.

"Tsubomi-chan sure is bold, pulling me into her room so late at night." Nagisa spoke as if she was embarrassed.

"W-w-w-wha? I-idiot!" She shouted, then covered her mouth and glared daggers at Nagisa. _Oh this is too much fun. She was on the same level of cute as Tamao and Chikaru, but her embarrassment is far cuter than Hikari, Miyuki, or Tamao's.  
><em>

Nagisa crossed her arms and pretended to pout. "You keep calling me an idiot. That's so mean."

Tsubomi crossed her arms as well. "It's because you keep acting like an idiot, Nagisa-sempai."

"Stop calling me that." Nagisa whined.

"I will when you stop acting like an idiot!"

"No, not that. Stop calling me sempai. Just call me Nagisa."

"W-what?" Tsubomi blushed. "I-I can't do that. It's disrespectful."

"I don't think it's disrespectful if we're friends. Besides, isn't it more disrespectful to call someone a name they don't like? Right, Tsubomi?" Nagisa replied in a teasing voice.

"F-fine, Nagisa…" Tsubomi mumbled, looking off to the side in embarrassment. _She's too serious and it's absolutely adorable._

"Oh yeah. If I'm an idiot, what does that make the girl I'm supposed to tutor?" Nagisa asked innocently, but she had the same devilish grin from before.

"What? Tutor? I don't need a tutor!" Tsubomi looked up at Nagisa and instantly realized that she had taken the bait.

"Oh? Who said anything about tutoring you? Are you struggling in one of your classes?"

"N-no! I'm doing just fine. Thank you for your concern."

"**Are you being stubborn**?" Nagisa asked in perfect English. Tsubomi raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what she was saying.

"I did not!" Tsubomi replied, but Nagisa's widening grin indicated that she had translated what she was told wrong.

"That doesn't make any sense, Tsubomi~" The first year lowered her head in defeat.

"Fine. I'm bad at English. What's the deal with this school requiring three languages anyway?" Tsubomi crossed her arms with a 'hmph'. _Didn't I say something so similar to that before?_

"That's why I'm going to be your tutor, since Hikari-chan isn't very good at English, and Yaya-chan is…Yaya-chan." They both sighed.

"Is that why you came here early?"

"Yup. You have a lot of pride and I figured bringing it up in front of others would hurt your feelings. Plus, it'd cause you to call me an idiot again and that hurts _my_ feelings."

"It does?" Tsubomi looked worried. _It doesn't, but doesn't she realize that calling people 'idiot' would eventually hurt someone's feelings?_

"If I said yes, would you stop? Calling everyone an idiot is going to make the wrong person mad one day." Nagisa shrugged. "Besides, you'll never win over Yaya-chan's heart if you keep calling her an idiot as well."

"What do you-I uh…I mean- uh… what are you…?" Tsubomi became so flustered that she became unable to form coherent sentences.

"Wait, seriously? I mean, I kind of had a hunch from earlier, but I could have easily passed that off as you not liking it when people laugh at you." Tsubomi didn't say anything and just buried her head in her hands to hide her blush. "So…" Nagisa couldn't help grinning. Yaya and Tsubomi seemed like they would make one hell of an entertaining couple. "When are you going to confess?"

"WHAT?" Tsubomi shouted and immediately covered her mouth again. She looked up at Nagisa with widened eyes before shaking her head furiously. "I can't confess to her."

"Why not?" _What a cute reaction._

"You haven't known her long enough, so you probably haven't realized that she's in love with Hikari-sempai." Tsubomi's mumble was barely above a whisper.

"Seriously? I had no idea. She's really good at hiding her emotions. I didn't sense any awkwardness or anything from her. She could be a brilliant actor one day."

"Well I heard that she's been acting since she was a kid." Tsubomi sat down on her bed and sighed. It was then that she realized that despite there being two beds, no one else was here.

"You don't have a roommate?"

"No. Whoever was supposed to share this room with me suddenly transferred to a different school. It's probably better that way or else both of us would be in trouble right now." _Trouble? Oh, right. I already forgot about our little game. Well it was a good way to change the subject. She doesn't look as sad now._

"Perhaps we should sneak out now? We're already late. They probably think we've been caught and are laughing at our apparent misfortune."

"Yeah." Tsubomi stood up and looked nervous. "Are you sure we won't get caught?"

"Definitely. I'm an expert at this sort of thing." Nagisa replied with a reassuring smile.

"An expert? What are you, a ninja?" _She's discovered my secret!_

"…yes." Nagisa answered, completely serious. Tsubomi just rolled her eyes.

"Lead on then, ninja-sempai."Nagisa rolled her eyes this time as she walked to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening for any noise. After listening to nothing but silence, she slowly opened the door and glanced up and down the hall.

"Alright, it's clear." She whispered before taking Tsubomi's hand. The pinkette was about to protest, but Nagisa shook her head. "You can't see as well in the dark as I can. It would be bad if we were to get separated."

Tsubomi nodded her head and flipped her lights off. She noticed Nagisa pull her shades up after she did so and wanted to question why, but she was more worried about getting caught and decided to drop it for now.

The two walked down the hallway in silence. Nagisa would frequently have the two of them stop and hide whenever she heard an irregular noise. She also stopped before each corner and took a look down the corridor, then checked behind her to make sure no one was behind them before looking at Tsubomi to make sure she was alright. The first year was surprised by how serious Nagisa was taking this and felt her fear of getting caught disappear. Tsubomi wasn't sure if Nagisa was doing this because she wanted to play the role of a ninja, or if Nagisa was doing it because Tsubomi was clearly worried about getting caught. Although she wouldn't come out and say it, Nagisa was doing it for both reasons.

When they arrived near the stairs that led down to the first floor, Nagisa suddenly pulled Tsubomi around the corner and put a finger on her lips to silence her. It was then that Tsubomi saw Nagisa's bright orange eyes and what seemed to be a line that went perfectly across them. The first year slowly nodded her head before Nagisa poked her head around the corner to watch something. Tsubomi leaned forward as well and focused her vision to try to make out whatever Nagisa was looking for. After a few seconds, she could make out Miator's head sister walking down the corridor with people behind her. Once they were out in the main area where the light from the window made things clearer, she could see Yaya, Hikari, Tamao and Chiyo are following behind her, all four of them looking depressed.

"How did they all get caught?" Nagisa mumbled, shaking her head in disappointment. "I expected Hikari-chan and Chiyo-chan would have trouble, but I thought for sure that Yaya-chan and Tamao would be able to escort them just fine." Nagisa sighed. "Now what?"

"Let's sneak back to my room. If the sister went into your room and saw you weren't there, she would be suspicious of you being there if she came back. She'll probably ask why you weren't there, but I'm sure you would think of something." Tsubomi replied, watching her friends be dragged out to what would probably be a frightening lecture.

"Aww, Tsubomi! I didn't know you cared so much~"

Tsubomi blushed and looked away. "It's only because you were trying hard to keep me out of trouble. That's all." _What a tsundere response._ Nagisa just smiled and nodded her head, then led the first year back to her room.

When they returned to Tsubomi's room, Nagisa plopped down on Tsubomi's bed. "What a drag. Tamao makes such good tea." Nagisa sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Um…Nagisa?" Tsubomi was leaning against the door, looking slightly frustrated as she tried to think of how to word what she wanted to ask. Nagisa sat up. "Um…about your sunglasses…" She couldn't find the right words.

Nagisa leaned back to look at the ceiling again. "Photophobia. My eyes were damaged when I was young, so now I need to wear shades or else I'll be blinded by bright lights. It's inconvenient, but it's not a big deal so you don't need to worry about it." She could hear Tsubomi sigh with relief and couldn't help grinning. "But enough about that…" Nagisa sat up with sudden enthusiasm. "Let's talk about love~"

"Idiot!" Tsubomi threw the pillow from the unused bed at Nagisa, who didn't bother to catch it before it hit her in the face. "W-wha? You were supposed to catch it!"

"Tsubomi is so mean, throwing things at me." She pretended to pout for a moment before tossing the pillow back to the first year. "But seriously, love sure seems complicated, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" Tsubomi mumbled, hugging the pillow.

"Although this takes complicated to a new level." Nagisa slid back on the bed so her back was against the wall. "You're in love with someone who is in love with someone else who is in love with someone else who doesn't love anyone. It's so unnecessarily complicated."

Tsubomi raised an eyebrow. "You don't think it's weird?"

"What? Your taste in women? I'm not sure why you like someone that teases you, but I'm not here to judge."

"No, that's not what I meant." Tsubomi mumbled.

"If it's about you two being girls, that's really not that weird. If you look around, the people here seem to love that kind of thing. I would think that a straight couple would be considered weird at this school." _Partly because there's no guys here anyway._ "Or are you talking about the age difference? Three years might seem like a big deal now while we're teenagers, but that won't mean anything in a few years."

"It's two years. I just turned thirteen."

Nagisa grinned. "Well that makes the age thing even less relevant. I don't see any problems with it, other than the problem of trying to get you two together."

"I don't know what I should do. Yaya-sempai doesn't ever take me seriously. If I were to confess to her, she would just turn it into a joke."

"The reason for that is because you always try to act serious, probably. They say that when children try to act like adults, they only look more childish. That's probably the logic behind Yaya-chan teasing you." _Or because her reactions are just so cute._

"Are you calling me a child?" Tsubomi half-heartedly glared at her sempai. _Too cute._

"I think all of us are just children trying to play as adults." Tsubomi's glare changed to concern, but it didn't seem like Nagisa was going to elaborate any further on that. "I think the first thing you should do is act more casual. You know, try to joke around and whatnot. We're only young once, so you should have as much fun as you can."

"I don't think that will magically fix everything."

"Of course not. If you stop acting seriously; however, she won't treat you like a child as often as she does now. The problem after that is the fact that she likes Hikari-chan. The thing we would want to avoid is Yaya-chan being personally rejected by Hikari-chan. Once that happens, you might be treated like a rebound." Nagisa brought a hand up to her chin and appeared to be thinking deeply.

"Well it's not like we can just convince her that she was never in love in the first place." Tsubomi retorted, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"We can't?" Nagisa tilted her head to the side. "Is she really in love with Hikari-chan?" Tsubomi seemed to stiffen, but it was difficult to tell in the dark. Nagisa shrugged it off and continued. "After all, other than choir, they seem to have almost nothing in common. Yaya-chan is the outgoing, almost tomboyish type while Hikari seems like the weak, princess type. Amane-san seems like the perfect match for Hikari-chan because they fit the whole prince and princess stereotype couple. Yaya-chan, on the other hand, seems like she's more likely to go after a girl like…you. Not trying to put out false hope or anything, but a girl like you that can keep her in line and can take a joke seems more like her type." She didn't continue when she saw that even Tsubomi's ears were turning red.

"I think we should go to sleep. It's getting pretty late and we might wake the people in the next room if we talk too long." Nagisa expected Tsubomi to be nervous, but was surprised to see her smiling. _I guess I ended up giving her some kind of hope after all._

"Sure thing." The two of them swapped beds and laid in silence for a while.

"Hey, Nagisa. Have you ever been in love?" Tsubomi asked after a few minutes. There was an awkward silence that followed before Nagisa answered.

"No. I can honestly say I've never been in love before. I thought I might have been at one time, but I was wrong. Well, it was more like I was trying to convince myself that I was. I guess I'm a bit jealous of people like you that have fallen in love. Seeing it makes me want to do what I can to support it."

"Is that why you want to help me?"

"Even if what I said wasn't true, I would still want to help because you're my friend. Seeing my friends happy makes me happy." Nagisa turned her head when she heard Tsubomi's amused laugh.

"You're a good person."

"Be careful. You might inflate my ego."

* * *

><p>"Are you alright?" Tsubomi's worried voice asked from behind her. She looked around the unfamiliar room, taking a moment to register that she was not in her own room, but was sitting up on the previously unoccupied bed in Tsubomi's room. <em>Sitting up?<em> She looked down and saw the sheets were in complete disarray and that she had suddenly jerked up without realizing it. _Typical night._

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You were tossing and turning all night and you suddenly screamed." _I screamed?_ "You looked like you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you up but…" Tsubomi's voice trailed off as she rubbed the side of her face.

"I hit you? No way. I'm so sorry, Tsubomi!"

"It's fine. You were asleep and I kind of expected it to happen with how much you were flailing around. It must have been an awful dream." _I know I flail around, but do I scream every morning as well? Why didn't Tamao ever say anything?_ Tsubomi knew she was right when Nagisa looked away. Nagisa had subconsciously wrapped a hand around her wrist without realizing it, and mentally slapped herself when she saw what she was doing. To her surprise, Tsubomi had gotten up when she wasn't watching and slid the wristband on her arm before she could stop her. There wasn't a gasp of surprise like she expected. "So it was that kind of dream, Nagisa?" Tsubomi sounded generally concerned, but she didn't know her long enough to get into it.

"It was a dream about something that happened to me before. I'd rather not talk about it if that's fine with you." Nagisa didn't look up and silently cursed to herself for letting yet another person see her scar.

"I won't ask if you don't want to talk about it. We've only just met yesterday, so even if we're friends, I can understand it being way too soon to talk about something like that."

"Thanks." Nagisa decided to change the subject. She stood on her feet, slid her band back in place, and grinned at Tsubomi. "It's morning."

"Uh…yeah, it is." Tsubomi raised an eyebrow.

"That means that someone is most likely going to see me coming out of your room since I didn't sneak out before sunrise. I wonder what people will think." She knew her topic change plan was successful when the first year's face suddenly lit up like a stop light.

"Idiot!" She turned away from Nagisa and shook her head in embarrassment.

"People are going to hear you~"

"Sh-shut up!" Nagisa laughed, and after a moment, Tsubomi laughed as well.

After their moment of laughter, Tsubomi changed and walked over to her door and opened it. She popped her head into the hall and looked back and forth. "It's clear." She stepped out into the hall with Nagisa following behind her, and then shut the door. Tsubomi sighed in relief before nearly jumping out of her skin when a group of students walked around the corner.

"Good morning, Nagisa-sama, Tsubomi-chan." The two turned to face three third year girls from Spica. Nagisa greeted them with a cheerful 'Yo!' after recognizing them as girls she met randomly during lunch one day. Tsubomi only waved nervously at them, worried that they might have been caught.

"Nagisa-sama, why are you still in your pajamas?" One of them asked with the two next to her giggling.

"Despite always waking up early, I am so not a morning person. I'm rather lazy, honestly. I'm surprised I can force myself to put on that uniform every morning." She looked like she suddenly realized something and looked down at her clothes. "Well, _almost_ every morning." The three girls giggled at Nagisa's expense. "More importantly…" She turned and faced the three of them, crossing her arms and sticking her lower lip out in a pout. "Stop with the 'sama' thing. It sounds so wrong."

"No way~" The three replied in unison, apparently anticipating Nagisa would say that eventually. They waved goodbye as they walked down the hall, laughing more when Nagisa shook her fist at them. The three turned around and the one of the three that seemed the most shy spoke up.

"About those rumors going around that make you sound like a pervert…" _There's more than one?_ "We don't believe them. No one does. We all know you're a good person, Nagisa-sama."

Nagisa gave them a brilliant smile. "Thanks for having faith in me!"

As the three left, Tsubomi had to raise her jaw off the floor. "You really are quite popular, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure if 'popular' is the right term. Perhaps 'notorious'?"

"Are you sure that's not your ego talking?"

Nagisa turned to Tsubomi with a cheerful smile plastered on her face. "Perhaps. More importantly, let's go check on our fallen comrades."

* * *

><p>"Grr…" Nagisa growled in annoyance and she knocked on Yaya and Hikari's door for the sixth time. "Wake up, damn it!" She shouted.<p>

"It's not like either of them to be out and about this early on a Sunday. Hikari-chan might leave to go see Amane-san, but she would usually be back by now." Tsubomi mumbled. Nagisa wasn't sure if the first year was speaking to her or talking to herself.

"You're pretty loud this morning, Nagisa." An easily recognizable voice spoke up. Nagisa turned to face the approaching Shizuma. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tsubomi suddenly become nervous and quickly bow her head.

"Hey there, Shizuma. I thought I would never see you after you got dragged off to do paperwork." Nagisa grinned when Shizuma's expression became grim.

Shizuma placed her hands on Nagisa's shoulders. "Never _ever_ run for student council. The paperwork never ends. I can't feel my hands."

Nagisa almost felt bad for her. She pats the older woman on the shoulders. "There, there."

"Um…" Tsubomi looked back and forth between the two of them. "You two really are friends, huh? I had heard the rumors, but rumors are pretty stupid so I ignored them."

"Just another reason why Tsubomi is so great~" Nagisa replied, causing the first year to respond with a blush.

"A friend of yours? I should introduce my-" Nagisa grabbed Shizuma's hand as it reached out towards Tsubomi.

"Easy there, Shizuma." Nagisa spoke in a polite tone with a sweet smile, but the venom in her words was obvious to both of them. "I would appreciate it if you didn't molest my kouhai."

"M-m-molest?" Tsubomi's blush flared brighter and she took a step back.

Shizuma frowned. "How am I supposed to make a good impression if you say things like that?" She rubbed her arm when Nagisa let her go, more for emphasis than anything.

"That look in your eyes is unmistakable." She looked back to Tsubomi. "You remember how she grabbed me on the dinner the night I transferred in, right? She was gonna do that to you. She'd probably do more, knowing her." _And now Tsubomi's entire face plus her ears are red. No wonder Yaya teases her. It's so cute._

"You're ruining my public image."

"I think any damage to your image is self-inflicted."

"You two are arguing like sisters." Tsubomi spoke up after recovering from her spazzing out.

"Hey!" They both shouted in unison, causing the pinkette to laugh.

"So what were you doing? They could hear someone banging on a door from downstairs." Shizuma asked to change the subject.

"We've been trying to get the two in this room to wake up, but they're probably not even in there. We were going to make fun of those two and Tamao for getting in trouble yesterday." Nagisa answered.

"I think I saw them earlier. I don't know exactly who you're looking for, but I saw Sister Hamasaka take Tamao-san, two girls around the same age, and a first year to the church. They were all dressed in those maid aprons."

Nagisa and Tsubomi looked at each other and Nagisa had to hold back a laugh. "Do you think they're being punished by cleaning the church?" Tsubomi asked.

"It looks like it. Isn't that a bit extreme just for catching them after lights out?"

"The sister has always been strict." Shizuma commented.

"Yet you never seem to get in trouble." Nagisa retorted.

"I'm just good at escaping." Shizuma shrugged.

Nagisa shook her head. "Right. Well, thanks for the tip." Nagisa grabbed Tsubomi's hand and was about to lead her down the hall before Shizuma stopped her.

"Miyuki will be returning this evening." She said, grinning a little. It wasn't her usual grin, so Nagisa figured something good must have happened.

"Already? She sure likes to take care of things quickly, doesn't she?" Shizuma nodded her head.

"We'll meet in her room tonight." Shizuma added before walking off. _I wonder how it went._

* * *

><p>After returning to her room to change out of her pajamas and into her school outfit, Nagisa and Tsubomi headed out to the church.<p>

"This is great, isn't it, Tsubomi?" Nagisa spoke up on the way, hiding her mischievous grin.

"What's great? That we won that little game?" The pinkette asked, not sensing what Nagisa was really thinking.

"Well there is that, but I was referring to you getting to see Yaya-chan in an apron."

"Ah! I hadn't thought of that!" Tsubomi blushed slightly, and Nagisa could swear she saw a smile tugging at the edge of the younger girl's lips.

"Tsubomi is a pervert." Nagisa looked away to hide her grin.

"I-I am not!" Tsubomi nearly shouted before finally realizing what Nagisa was doing. "Besides, aren't you thinking about seeing Tamao-sempai in an apron?"

"Geh!" I _hadn't thought of that!_ Nagisa nearly tripped over her own feet, causing Tsubomi to laugh. "You learn well, my apprentice."

"Well you said last night that I shouldn't take everything so seriously, and it's good advice to take when I hang around people like you and Yaya-sempai."

"Which one of us is worse?"

"You are."

"Pfft." Nagisa crossed her arms and looked away. "You're only saying that because you're not in love with me." The conversation died down after that once they reached the church. Finding no one of interest in the chapel, they walked around until they reached the tower that led up to the bell. When they walked in through the open door, they saw the head sister lecturing the four girls in maid aprons. Tsubomi put her hand over Nagisa's mouth to prevent her from laughing. _Smart girl. I didn't even realize that I was about to laugh.  
><em>

The two of them quietly walked to the staircase behind the sister, grinning at the temporary maids once they came into their vision.

"Oh? Have you two come to help us?" Yaya asked to make their presence known to the sister.

"Not at all." Nagisa replied, sliding her finger along the rail and gaping at the amount of dust that was now on her finger.

"Why were you not in your room last night, Aoi-san?" Sister Hamasaka asked, not sharing the same amusement in her question that Yaya did.

"She was in my room last night." Tsubomi answered, sliding her finger on the rail as well. Her eyes widened when she discovered just how thick the dust was.

"That's right. I went to her room yesterday to tell her about what we discussed yesterday. Tsubomi-chan, being the ambitious girl that she is, wanted to get started right away. We ended up working until sometime past curfew."

"I didn't want her to get in trouble for walking around after lights out, and because no one else shares a room with me, I asked her to just stay in my room and use the empty bed." Tsubomi looked slightly embarrassed. _Perhaps she's not used to bullshitting like I am? She's pretty good at it. I'm a bad influence on her, aren't I?  
><em>

"I see. If that's all it is, then that's fine. Make sure not to do it again."

"Yes ma'am." Tsubomi and Nagisa both replied in unison because they weren't sure which one she was talking to.

"More importantly~" Nagisa held up her dust covered finger for the sister to see. "I don't think this cleaning crew that you mentioned has been doing their job properly. This isn't just a day or week's worth of dust. Something this thick would take over a month to accumulate."

"She's right." Tsubomi looked down at the floor. "The dust is even getting thick on the floor. I'm pretty sure I can make out a few of our footprints. This place has been neglected." _We could make dust angels!_

The sister looked down at the floor, and then ran her finger on the wooden rail just as they had done before. "Hmm…it seems I should have a talk with them, but that won't stop these four from receiving their punishment." Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at Nagisa and Tsubomi, who both looked away nervously.

"She caught us." Nagisa mumbled. She expected some sort of lecture, but the sister just left the room, staring at her finger. "Perhaps she angrier at the maids, rather than us." Nagisa shrugged.

"Did you come to make fun of us?" Tamao asked with a frown after the sister left.

"That depends on how you four got caught." Nagisa replied, noticing Hikari glance at Yaya, clearly not amused.

"Tamao-sama and I were able to return to the room just fine, but…" Chiyo's voice trailed off as she looked at Yaya as well. Yaya looked away from them both.

"We managed to get to the room just fine." Hikari started. "We would have been fine, but Yaya decided to bang on the door rather than tap it. Once Chiyo-chan opened the door, the head sister came out from behind the corner and caught us."

Nagisa tried to hold her laugh in, but when Tsubomi started giggling, she couldn't hold it in and let out a hearty laugh. "Way to go, idiot." Tsubomi taunted.

Yaya frowned and crossed her arms. "Hmph. I bet you had a lovely night alone in the dark with Nagisa-chan, didn't you?"

"Yes, I slept just fine last night after we won the game, maid-sempai." Tsubomi replied with a cheerful smile, clearly enjoying herself. Yaya's arms lowered from shock. She had expected the younger girl to get flustered and call her an idiot, not to come up with a retort of her own.

"Damn." Nagisa mumbled, looking up. "Isn't this a bit cruel for just being caught after hours? This place is huge."

"She wants us to clean _every_ step." Tamao sounded exhausted already from just looking at all the steps.

"How the hell are you supposed to finish something like that?" She looked over and saw Chiyo already starting. "Uh…Chiyo-chan?" She stopped and looked up at Nagisa. "It's better to start at the top and work your way down, otherwise you'll be knocking dust onto steps you've already cleaned."

"Ah. Good idea." Chiyo took her bucket and mop and ran up the stairs, surprisingly not tripping along the way. The other three temp maids followed behind her.

"Do you guys want some help?" Nagisa offered.

"No way. The winners shouldn't take pity on the losers." Yaya replied, carrying a mop lazily on her shoulders.

"Aren't you the only real loser here?" Nagisa teased, receiving a glare from the raven-haired girl. _That glare looks so…familiar?_

Nagisa and Tsubomi looked at each other and shrugged. A smirk from our protagonist made the pinkette worried. "I guess I get the spend the whole day with Tsubomi~"

"Idiot!"

* * *

><p>"Ah! It makes sense now!" Tsubomi shouted ecstatically as she scribbled fiercely on the sheet of paper in front of her. Nagisa was watching over her shoulder with some amusement.<p>

"Good job, Tsubomi. I knew you could figure it out." Nagisa said, pulling the girl into a hug from behind while looking down and studying what she wrote. "You're such a smart girl."

"I-I'm not, really. You're just a good teacher." Tsubomi replied, too excited about finally understanding what her class had already gone through.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." _Nowhere since I'm already hugging her, anyway._

"It's true. That annoying teacher did a horrible job explaining all of this. I didn't understand a word she was saying. It was like she was speaking French with a German accent or something."

"I understand how you feel. I don't understand anything my French teacher says, like she was speaking French with a French accent." Tsubomi had already realized how much Nagisa detested French when she started the tutoring French by saying "the best part about English is that it's not French."

"I'm serious. You made everything so simple and easy to understand. There's a test next week and I probably would have failed it if it weren't for this. I think you would make a great teacher if you went for it."

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Nagisa tapped her chin in thought. "If they came up to me with cute, confused looks on their faces, I'd just want to hug them and tell them everything will be okay." Tsubomi laughed nervously and looked off to the side, knowing Nagisa was being honest because she did just that to her less than an hour ago.

"You're kind of like the Etoile…"

Nagisa jumped back, pretending to be shocked. "No way! I just have an appreciation for all things that are cute, lovely, or adorable. Besides, I wouldn't go past hugging them." Nagisa crossed her arms and frowned.

"So, if you're not going to be a teacher, what do you plan to be in the future?" _What an adult-like question._

"I'm not really sure. My grandfather always talked about me taking over his company some day, but he retired last year, so I haven't really given it any thought. I might do something related to acting because I'm so awesome at it." _I've always got a career as a ninja._

"It looks like I've inflated someone's ego." The younger girl seemed amused. "Oh yeah, speaking of the Etoile, aren't you supposed to meet with her?" Tsubomi pointed to the clock.

"Wow, we've been at it for a while, haven't we? Are you going to be alright by yourself?" Nagisa asked, receiving a nod and Tsubomi shooing her with her hand.

"Go on. I can handle the rest on my own now."

Nagisa smiled and ran out the door, calling out a 'see you later' as she left. She ran down the hall, twirling around random students that she nearly collided with. It had only been a few days since Miyuki left but Nagisa was eager to hear how things went. She found herself in front of Miyuki's door in what felt like record time before simply barging in, too impatient to knock and wait. "Welcome back, Miyuki!"

Nagisa stopped dead in her tracks as the view in front of her slowly registered in her mind. Miyuki and Shizuma were both on Miyuki's bed, but not sitting on it like usually. Oh no, not at all. Miyuki was laying on her back with Shizuma sitting over her on her hands and knees. What was most shocking was that she had walked in on them in a middle of a kiss. Not a kiss on the cheek, but a full on passionate blend of lips and tongues.

The two kissing girls pulled away and three of them stared at each other in an awkward silence. Nagisa opened her mouth to say something, but remembered that she left the door open. She quickly turned around and shut it, then stood in the same place she was frozen at just a moment ago. She pointed accusingly at the two seniors and exclaimed "I knew it! Oh, you two would beat around the bush so much but I knew this would eventually happen!" Nagisa became giddy with excitement after seeing two of her friends finally hook up like this. An awkward moment to walk in on, but what it implied made her happy. "I guess I kind of cockblocked you guys, huh? No, wait. What's the female version of that? Clap trap? No wait, that's a robot." She could see both of them blushing, but Shizuma quickly burst into laughter, Miyuki quickly following.

"I honestly wasn't expecting that to be your reaction. It's rather refreshing." Miyuki said in amusement as the two climbed off the bed, much to Shizuma's disappointment.

"Don't look so depressed, Shizuma. You can jump her bones later." Nagisa grinned and _holy hell_ she was not used to seeing both Miyuki _and_ Shizuma blushing at the same time. _What a cute love~_ "At least you two don't have to pretend you don't have feelings for each other anymore. I was half tempted to kiss one of you to make the other jealous so you can stop pretending you don't know how the other felt. _Seriously._"

"You know what would have happened if you kissed Miyuki, right?" Shizuma asked with a dark, almost _sinister_ smile.

"Of course. I've already fought you twice…sort of. I'd say it would be worth it."

"Masochist."

"Bite me."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Damn it." Nagisa slapped her forehead. "I walked right into that."

"It's good to see you two still get along just fine." Miyuki commented, preparing some tea.

"Of course. Has Shizuma complained about the endless paperwork yet?" Nagisa smiled.

"Honestly, how are your hands not coated in blisters by now? It's torture." Shizuma frowned, looking at her poor, delicate hands. At least they were in her eyes.

"I never knew my Shizuma was so frail." Miyuki said as she placed the tea cups down. Nagisa waited for all three cups to be on the table before grinning.

"_Your_ Shizuma? Since when did you get so bold? I'm not even teasing you this time." Nagisa mused. Miyuki flushed red and looked away from them both. Shizuma gave her that _damn_ grin and pulled her onto her lap. Nagisa sighed and shook her head. "I am going to tease this cute new couple _relentlessly._" Nagisa mumbled to herself, looking out the window and trying not to listen to the sound of kissing coming from the opposite side of the table.

After a quick eternity, the new lovebirds finally settled down. "So, are you going to share what happened or do you just want to keep making out? I've got delicious tea, so I don't care either way."

"Make out." Shizuma answered promptly, barely waiting for Nagisa to finish speaking.

Nagisa rolled her eyes. "You have all night for that."

"We would already be done if someone hadn't suddenly come in." Shizuma retorted.

"Like anyone would ever believe you'd say you were done." The older woman replied with a smirk.

Miyuki sighed. "Fine, I'll speak. Just stop it already. Do you want the long or short version?"

"I think you better go with the short version. I don't think Shizuma can keep her hands to herself long enough for the long one. Based on how you don't push her away, you probably can't wait that long either." Nagisa looked down at the clasped hands of the two lovers and shook her head. "Ah, to be young and in love~"

"That doesn't make any sense when it comes from you, kouhai." Nagisa innocently ignored Shizuma's comment, electing to focus her attention on the suddenly interesting design of the teacup she was holding.

Miyuki cleared her throat, ignoring both of their banter. "I probably would have come back yesterday, but I decided to play innocent at first to see if they were willing to tell me on their own. I would ask innocent sounding questions like asking if they had heard from _his_ family recently. I was hoping they would give me an honest answer, but I guess that was too much to ask for. After beating around the bush for a while, trying to get them to realize that I was looking for the truth, I decided to just say it straight out.

I confronted them the next morning, saying that I had heard that he had been arrested. I didn't want to give away what I knew yet because I was still hoping they would speak up, but they didn't. They flat out denied that someone like _him_ getting arrested was even plausible." Miyuki stopped speaking and took a sip of tea.

"I probably would have thrown a chair. What did you do?" Nagisa inquired.

"Although I didn't throw any furniture, I still lost it. I recall shouting things like 'How could you lie to my face?' and 'Do you think I would have brought it up if I didn't already know he was a rapist?' I almost struck my mother when she said he was 'falsely accused by some whore', as she worded it."

"No offense, but I don't like your mother." Nagisa commented, staring at her tea.

"I wouldn't either, if I was you." Miyuki looked at her tea as well. "When I asked them about the point you brought up, I actually slapped my father." That got Nagisa and Shizuma to both turn their heads to her. "I asked him if he actually planned to wait until he was out of prison to have me marry him, and he said that he had already found a better suitor for me but didn't know when to tell me. Apparently, he had already found one over five months ago. It pissed me off."

"Shall I teach you proper chair-throwing techniques?" Nagisa was pissed off just from hearing it, but she still tried to make a joke to lighten Miyuki's mood slightly, which seemed to do the trick.

"No need. I have Shizuma to throw chairs for me." Miyuki said, looking at Shizuma with an innocent smile.

"I'd rather just throw the person." Shizuma replied with a shrug.

"So what did you do when he pissed you off?" Nagisa asked, rolling her eyes at the glances the older women were giving each other.

"I told him that he clearly wasn't capable of finding an appropriate person for me to marry, so I would find a person that I loved on my own, whether he accepted it or not." Miyuki smirked. "I had always gone along with whatever they had decided until now, so they were both caught off guard when I said it. We probably glared at each other for ten minutes before he caved in."

"And that's when you came back here and started making out with miss popularity over here." Nagisa tilted her head to point at Shizuma.

"We were having such fun too, until someone decided to make their grand entrance." Shizuma said, trying to sound annoyed which didn't really work when they all knew she found it amusing.

"Right." Nagisa rolled her eyes again. "Anyway, I'm happy for you, Miyuki. Just make sure to lock your doors after I leave. You wouldn't want anyone to come in to investigate the _strange noises_ that will inevitably come from this room, would you?" Miyuki nearly dropped her cup; her face flushed a deep red as if she had just burned it. "Young love~" Nagisa ducked under the pillow Miyuki threw at her before standing up. "I'll leave you two love birds to your own discretion." She said as she opened the door. "Have fun~" She shut the door before another pillow could hit her.

Nagisa stared silently at the door for a moment, feeling something she couldn't recognize. She was certainly happy for the two of them, but something felt off. _Am I…jealous?_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Note: And there's your first couple! We start the love off with a ShizumaxMiyuki pairing. I know some of you were hoping for a ShizumaxNagisa pairing, and while they have similar personalities in some respect, they would not make a good pair in this story. Nagisa is currently unable to go anywhere past hugging someone, because she's afraid of getting too close or intimate with someone after being raped. Nagisa doesn't even consider hugging or holding hands intimate and thinks of it more as something between friends. Shizuma, on the other hand, is someone who can be much more intimate with someone she's not even dating. That kind of intimate relationship would only cause Nagisa to push Shizuma away, and it just wouldn't work. <em>**

**_This chapter was longer than I had expected it to be. Over 10,000 words before the A/N. I was originally planning to cut the chapter after Nagisa spent the night in Tsubomi's room, but I promised that I would reveal at least one couple by chapter ten, so here it is._**

**_Now, I bet you're wondering who the other pairings will be? The only one I know I'm sticking with other than ShizumaxMiyuki will be HikarixAmane, just because there's no reason for me to change it. I'm honestly not sure who I want to pair Nagisa with at this point. Going by the story so far, Tamao could either be considered a love interest or simply the best friend, but she would make the most sense to pair with her. The other person I'm considering is actually Tsubomi, because I think it would be an interesting pair that I haven't seen before, and Tsubomi is one of my favorite characters. She's so cute~. The reason Nagisa won't be paired with Yaya is the same as why she isn't with Shizuma. _**

**_And now to reply to your reviews! _**

**Artful Lounger – _That's definitely an amusing scene to consider. I'm not sure if poor little Chiyo could handle it._**

**the cold raven – _Yes, yay yuri. A sentiment I think we can all agree on. I hope you're not too disappointed by it not being a ShizuNagi story _**

**KittyAttack – _Smacked with a seat belt seems so anti-climactic though! Does the rape thing make my story another statistic? I had considered pairing her with Yaya because of their similarities, but they will be connected in a different way which I think I'll bring up next chapter. Maybe. Don't hold me to it._**

**Obsidian and Cobalt – _Anything moe can exist if it's Tsubomi! I'm sorry if I made you think. It's not something I usually do, honestly. Thinking is overrated. _**

**neurele – _Rumors about Nagisa and Shizuma have been spread the moment the two of them met at the first dinner on Nagisa's transfer in. It's been hinted that more have spread whenever the two are seen together, because every school has gossip queens. Every. Single. School. Ever. Twitch. I hope you stay hooked!_**

**romancejunkie – _The full story of her past will all be told at once the next time she explains it. Depending on who I pair Nagisa up with will determine when it gets written. I'm not sure how long that will be though. After all, I've only gone through like seven episodes of the anime and things are just getting started. Please bear (or is it bare?) with me through the sadism._**

**Joy – _There's your pairings…mostly. Sorta. _**

**Shizmaring – _I think I just disappointed you. _**


	11. The Late Night Tea Party

_This feeling must be jealousy. It's a feeling that I'm all too familiar with. _Nagisa stared blankly at Miyuki's door. When she heard the sound of a bed creaking, she blushed lightly and ran down the hall. She did _not_ want to imagine what those two were doing in there and- _oh god! I'm imagining it!_ Nagisa stopped and shook her head furiously. After a moment, she resumed walking down the hall and made her way back upstairs, doing her best to not look back. _Of course I'm jealous of them. They both have something that I've never had before. I wonder what it feels like to be in love. Will I ever have someone that means that much to me? I doubt it._

Nagisa could feel the bitterness in her own thoughts as she walked back to her room. _I just can't see it happening. I can't even approach a guy anymore without panicking. I can't even force myself to lower my guard around my own grandfather, and he's the reason I'm here. As much as I would probably deny it if anyone asks, I really think I've developed some form of androphobia because of_ him. Nagisa would probably deny it to herself if she weren't already feeling somewhat depressed._ It's not like I would be opposed to dating a girl, but I don't have the slightest clue what the difference between a girl friend and a girlfriend is. I'm going to be that bitter old lady that lives with forty cats, I just know it._

When she entered her room and shut the door, she slowly registered that something about the room was off. It took her a few seconds to get out of her daze and notice that in addition to Tamao and herself, there were four other people in this room. "You guys haven't learned your lesson, have you?"

"We're already here, so there's no way we can get caught this time." Yaya waved off Nagisa's question without a care in the world. _No one would have been caught last time if you weren't trying to break the door down._

"I wonder if she'll have you all clean the roofs next. You do realize that she'll probably swing around here to make sure we aren't up to any shenanigans, right?"

"Why would she do something like that?" Chiyo asked innocently.

Nagisa shook her head. "Because the closest thing this school has to a rebel was among the four caught goofing off after hours." Nagisa made sure to look Yaya in the eyes when she called her a rebel. "Do you think someone who cares about the rules so much is going to ignore the possibility?"

"She has a point." Hikari mumbled

Nagisa sighed and lay down on her bed and pulled the covers over herself. "Hide under the bed until she comes by. She follows the same pattern every night. She'll be here in about two minutes, and then she'll return to her home room about twenty-five minutes afterwards. It's the same every time. Before any of you ask, I know this because I'm a professional ninja." Nagisa gave them an annoyed look as if daring them to question her knowledge. After all, she did this almost every night since she started having tea with Miyuki and Shizuma. The thought of her two seniors made her blush slightly.

Nagisa watched Tamao get in her own bed while Yaya and Hikari crawled in under it. She saw Chiyo going under her bed, but Tsubomi wasn't moving. "Isn't this a little-" Tsubomi stopped speaking and time itself seemed to slow to a crawl when the sound of a sneeze came from the hall. The three on the floor quickly scrambled under the beds in time, but Tsubomi was frozen like a deer in the headlights. _She's clearly a girl that avoids getting into trouble. She doesn't know what to do when it might actually happen._

Without thinking about it, Nagisa grabbed Tsubomi's arm and pulled her under the blanket before the first year could protest. She pulled Tsubomi as close as she could and closed her eyes right before the door opened. She knew she had no doubt made a lot of noise by pulling the girl onto her bed and faked a yawn, mumbled something incoherent under her sheets about the great hippie movement of 1978, and moved around a little to make it appear that the sound was just her trying to find a more comfortable spot to sleep. She knew that Tsubomi must feel awkward and uncomfortable as hell, but she was thankful that the pinkette didn't start fidgeting or something.

The door shut after a few seconds and they all waited patiently until none of them were able to hear the sounds of footsteps in the halls. _Those loud ass shoes are horrible for stealth._ A collective sigh of relief filled the room before everyone began climbing out from in and under the bed.

"That woman is persistent." Yaya mumbled as she helped Hikari up.

"At least we won't have to clean the roof." Hikari replied with a weak smile.

"Yeah, you're welcome for that." Nagisa said, sitting up. She was the last one to sit at the table Tamao pulled out of who knows where, choosing to sit between Tamao and Chiyo. As she took her seat, she couldn't help but notice that Tsubomi's cheeks were a light shade of pink and the younger girl refused to look at Nagisa. _Is she mad at me? I don't think I grabbed her that hard. Well, I did pull her into my bed, so she might be embarrassed about that. Maybe she's embarrassed that she froze and I had to pull her into the bed in the first place. This sucks. I can't apologize, comfort her, or try to cheer her up because someone will look at her funny or worriedly._

"That's a pretty tea set." Chiyo's voice pulled Nagisa out of her thoughts, something she realized hasn't happened in a few days. _Yay! I'm sticking to reality!_

"Tamao has good taste. Her taste in tea is even better." Nagisa added.

"Don't you just like tea?" Tsubomi replied in a joking tone, causing Nagisa to smile. _Well, at least she's not mad at me._

"She likes anything that tastes good. You should see how quickly she can make a cake disappear." Tamao spoke as she poured the tea.

"So I'm everyone's punch line tonight? Maybe it really is karma!" Nagisa looked down at her cup and grinned. "Oh well. I have tea~" She couldn't help feeling that the other girls were laughing at her rather than with her, but she just shrugged it off. She adjusted her shades slightly to see how bright the little lamp on the table was. Grinning at how dim it was, she removed her sunglasses and tossed them back onto her bed.

"Nagisa-onee-sama, you have really pretty eyes." Chiyo said, leaning forward to look at them.

"Wah, they really are!" Hikari piped up next. "It's like they're glowing."

"I keep hearing that, but I don't believe it. Well I guess it's better than one of you running out of the room screaming 'Demon! She's possessed!' or whatever nonsense they were spewing." Nagisa waved her arms in the air for emphasis, then sipped her tea. _I love tea~_

"Did people actually do that?" Tsubomi asked, trying to picture it.

"Yeah, it happened more often than you would expect it to. If someone who didn't know me and believed in things like ghosts or demons saw my eyes, they would actually think I was a demon or the spawn of satan or whatever the hell kind of bullshit they came up with. It hurt my feelings when I was a kid, but now I just find it funny as hell."

"Those people must be pretty stupid, confusing beautiful eyes with demon eyes." Tsubomi said before sipping her tea. Nagisa could swear she saw the slight blush return to Tsubomi's cheeks, but didn't really think about it.

After talking about Nagisa's eyes, the six girls resumed conversing for a while about various subjects before Yaya got a mischievous grin that Nagisa just had to ask what was on her mind, only because it would _probably _be interesting. "We've been having a pretty normal conversation until now, but I think we've been ignoring the important topics." _This can't end well._ "We haven't even touched the one subject that's normal for every tea party." _Considering the odd array of conversations Shizuma, Miyuki, and I have, I think my definition of normal might be a little skewed._

"What topic is that?" Hikari asked innocently. _The fact that no one other than me looks worried right now either means I'm the only one that doesn't know what she's talking about, or I'm the only one who can tell that she's about to bring up something weird. Or both. _

"Isn't it obvious that a group of girls gathered like this would have to talk about romance?" Yaya asked with a playful grin. Everyone at the table except for her and Nagisa were blushing, and Nagisa just had to reply with a joke.

"Yaya-chan, you're sexist." She gave Yaya a frown of disapproval, but Yaya just smiled.

"You say that as if you're not interested."

"I'm not, really. Besides, we already know that a certain blond has the hots for her prince." Nagisa grinned.

"Stop saying that!" Hikari whined. She crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out in a pout. Nagisa had to stop herself from laughing loudly and waking those in the next room. Her urge to laugh was quickly dropped when she noticed Yaya didn't have any reaction at all. Even though she had never experienced it, she had seen plenty of people in love and she had certainly played the role of someone in love in plenty of plays. She noticed over the years that people in love always had some similar reaction in certain situations. Yaya was not acting like someone who had an unrequited love, nor had she ever given any hints of it. Other than randomly clinging to the blond, she showed no signs of extra affection. Even then, Tamao did the same to Nagisa on occasion, and she did the same for well... a lot of her friends, really. Nagisa couldn't help but wonder if the raven-haired girl was really in love with Hikari.

"The princess hasn't made any new developments with her prince yet." Yaya joked, earning a slap on her arm from her best friend. "Well since we already know who Hikari is so helplessly in love with, is there anyone else here that's sporting a crush? Hidden desires? A secret rendezvous?"

Nagisa and Yaya both looked at the other four girls, and Nagisa frowned slightly when she noticed Tamao blush at the question and stare down at her lap because her pajamas just became so much more interesting. "Have something to share, Tamao?" Nagisa asked, smirking.

Tamao's blush darkened considerably and she began to stutter, but when the word wouldn't come out, she just shook her head. "You shouldn't keep such secrets from your friends, Tamao-chan." Yaya said in a singsong voice, trying to get the blunette to budge.

"I-I might… have someone I like…" Tamao mumbled so softly that Nagisa probably wouldn't have heard her if they weren't sitting right next to each other.

"Eh? No way!" Nagisa was shocked. "You're supposed to tell me that kind of things right away. Then, once you tell me, you can randomly come in our room and be like 'Kyaa! She's so pretty!' or 'Ohmigosh she was so hot today!' or 'She's so cute when she does something or another!' or whatever giddy teens in love do." Nagisa over-embellished each phrase with a love struck look on her face, and then gave her a dull expression. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"Well it seemed weird to just randomly bring it up. Was I supposed to just walk up to you and be like 'Nagisa! I totally have a crush on someone!' with excessive enthusiasm?"

"Considering that's probably how I would tell you if I fell for someone, yes, that's what I would expect." Nagisa shrugged.

"Wasn't that kind of stereotypical of a teen in love?" Yaya asked, tilting her head.

Nagisa frowned. "You mean to say that Hikari doesn't randomly burst in the room and talk about how cool Amane is?"

"Of course not!" Hikari frowned.

"She's right." Yaya grinned. "It's not random at all. She does it _every single day_."

"Yaya-chan!" Hikari's face lit up brighter than Tamao's. Everyone laughed at Hikari's expense save for Tamao.

"So who are you totally crushing on?" Nagisa asked Tamao when the laughter ended.

Tamao started twiddling her fingers and looked back down. "Ch-Chikaru-san." Nagisa's eyes widened to a ridiculous proportion with the rest of her face. That certainly was not the person she had suspected. In fact, for a while now, she had been assuming that _she_ was the one that Tamao liked. _I thought I was the one she liked, but it was Chikaru the entire time? I think they would be cute together, but I've never seen her hint at it. Then again, I've only talked to Chikaru a few times._ Nagisa leaned back against her bed, trying to figure out how she felt about this.

"_I could have sworn that Nagisa-chan and Suzumi-san were a couple."_

"_You two look and act just like a couple, really. You two are together all the time and the way she looks at you is kind of…"_

"_Do you not like her?"_

Miyuki and Shizuma's words came back to Nagisa's mind as she thought. Even observers thought that Tamao had a crush on her, but they were all wrong. Nagisa had been questioning her feelings for Tamao as well. Could she have feelings for the blunette? Was she simply her best friend? It wasn't until now that she finally understood her feelings for Tamao.

They were best friends and nothing more. She had noticed it over time, but it wasn't something she could confirm until now. When Tamao said that she liked Chikaru, there was no sadness, no anger, and no jealousy. She was truly happy for her best friend. The only thing that had actually upset her was the fact that Tamao hadn't told her first, but then again, the blunette was unbelievably shy about it and she had the urge to kick Yaya for bringing the whole conversation up.

_I like her as a friend, and I'm happy for her, as a friend. I thought I might have actually developed feelings for her, but I was wrong._ _She's my best friend and nothing more. I mistook her occasional clinging for affection. _Once she thought about it, it was quite obvious that she didn't have those feelings for Tamao. She didn't feel embarrassed about changing in front of her, though she always wore an undershirt so she wasn't revealing much. Nagisa also didn't get any strange ideas in her head when sharing a bed with her roommate. The only thought that usually crossed her mind was that she could sleep in peace. There was no desire there.

_Once again, I'm still left wondering what love actually is. Maybe Shizuma's joke wasn't far from the truth. Maybe love is nothing more than wanting to fuck a friend. It seems like such bullshit really. It really feels like I'll never be able to find love. I've tried naturally falling in love like with Tamao, but that clearly doesn't work. I tried forcing myself to fall in love with someone, but I never loved _him._ I think he knew that. Is it so wrong to want to love and be loved?_

Nagisa shook her head. _This isn't about me. It never is. My best friend is in love and I should support her. Just because I might end up alone doesn't mean I can't push other people towards their happy endings. _Nagisa leaned forward and pats Tamao on the shoulder. "Good for you, Tamao. I'm totally supporting you." Nagisa gave her best friend a cheerful smile. _Smile. Always smile. Don't show your loneliness and ruin the happiness of someone else, especially not your best friend.  
><em>

"Thank you, Nagisa." Tamao sounded relieved for some reason.

"What's with that? Did you think I wouldn't have your back? You're my best friend." Nagisa could see Tamao's smile widen.

"Tamao-chan and Chikaru-san, huh? That would be pretty entertaining. Put the motherly girl of Miator with the motherly girl from Lulim together and you got a couple that cares too much. I can feel the love already." Yaya smirked when Tamao blushed and innocently sipped her tea.

"Does anyone else have a crush or am I the only one to be made fun of tonight?" Tamao asked with a frown. "How about you, Chiyo-chan?"

"Huh?" The first year blushed at the question, but answered calmly. "N-no…" Well, calmly for Chiyo. "Things like that haven't crossed my mind before."

"How innocent." Yaya teased.

"For someone that likes to tease others, you sure haven't said much about _your_ love life." Nagisa quipped. "Do _you_ have someone you like?"

"Nope." Yaya replied calmly. _She's being completely honest. It's like I just asked her if she knew what time it is. I think she really isn't in love with Hikari._

"Really? I don't really listen to them, but I had heard a rumor that you had a crush on Hikari-chan of all people." Nagisa raised an eyebrow to show she was confused. Yaya just laughed.

"No way. Hikari-chan is my best friend. That would be like saying you had a crush on Tamao-chan. It doesn't make any sense. People automatically assume that best friends must be couples in schools like this. It's so stupid." _Every word seems so honest. Even if she was an actor like me, or an even better one, she would still have some sort of show or at least the slightest hint of hesitation. Tsubomi was wrong about Yaya having a crush._

Nagisa glanced over at Tsubomi as Yaya ranted about how stupid rumors are and that people who start them need to be slapped with the backhand of justice, whatever that meant. She frowned when she saw Tsubomi's face. She had expected there to be some kind of relief on the pinkette's face when she heard that Yaya wasn't interested in anyone, but instead, it seemed like the fact only made Tsubomi nervous. Nagisa tried to figure out why, but she couldn't think of anything.

"The girls here are too boring to date anyway." Yaya said, apparently still on her rant. "Everyone here is so high class and whatnot. They're totally not my type. There was one girl that I asked out because she seemed like an interesting person, but she rejected me because she knew I was the type of person who never took anything seriously." Yaya shrugged. "It was disappointing, but I wasn't exactly heartbroken or anything. Other than her, the closest one here to being slightly interesting to date would be you, Nagisa-chan." _If that's a confession, she clearly needs to plan it better._

"Are you going to start flirting with me?" Nagisa asked with an amused grin.

"Not at all. You're only more interesting than the others because your personality is somewhat similar to mine, except for the fact that you apparently talk to everyone and take your studies more seriously. If the two of us dated, we would argue _so much_."

Nagisa looked up and tapped her chin in thought. "I can totally see that. We'd eventually pull each others hair out, figuratively and literally."

"Exactly! Besides, I didn't come to this school to find a girlfriend. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I chose this school. It was probably because the choir sounded impressive when I heard them singing at recruitment. Other than that, I can't think of anything." Yaya shrugged.

"What a carefree attitude." Nagisa set her elbow on the table so she could rest her head on her hand. "You remind me so much of A-chan that it's not even funny." Nagisa's smirk vanished when Yaya's eyes widened. _No way._ "…A-chan?" The redhead sat up.

Yaya's brow furrowed. "You have got to be kidding me. Sa-chan?" The two stared at each other in disbelief for a minute. Nagisa couldn't help but notice that Hikari's eyes seemed to light up.

Nagisa narrowed her eyes on the blond. "You knew from the beginning that Yaya-chan was A-chan when I was talking to you, didn't you?"

Hikari looked away sheepishly. "Maybe. Your story was similar to something Yaya-chan told me last year, and I remembered it when you were talking."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"You kept calling me princess!" Hikari crossed her arms. Nagisa wanted to say something, but a strange laugh from Yaya prevented her from speaking. It wasn't an amused laugh.

"I can't believe it. You suddenly vanished one day. I thought something had happened to you. You've changed a lot since then that it's no wonder I didn't recognize you. Where have you been for the past ten years?" Yaya was speaking lightheartedly, but the look on her face portrayed what she was really feeling – some mix of anger and annoyance.

"I moved to America." Nagisa answered simply, not daring to reveal more than she needed to.

"You couldn't say goodbye or anything? That's pretty selfish." Yaya's voice reflected her annoyance.

"Aren't you the one being selfish?" Nagisa's voice was cold. Yaya's baseless accusation had struck a nerve, effectively killing her good mood. "You should try thinking of other people's circumstances."

"What sort of circumstances could cause you to vanish over night?"

"I didn't leave that night. I was still in Japan for over a month after the last time I saw you, but some things came up and I couldn't return because something _did_ happen to me." Nagisa stared at her trembling hands. "If I had known I wouldn't have seen you after that day, I would have said something."

"Why did you leave?" Yaya asked, sounding a bit sad, most likely from realizing that she was getting angry because of things she only assumed. She quickly changed her tone back to the carefree voice that seemed so natural for her. "Things got so boring after you left. It's hard being the only tomboy. I needed a partner in crime to get in trouble with."

"It's not really worth talking about. It would just kill the mood anyway." Nagisa answered.

"Nonsense." "That's stupid." Hikari and Yaya spoke at the same time, but with each of them speaking different responses. Nagisa looked at them skeptically and Hikari decided to continue speaking. "We're all friends here. You can talk about anything with us." _I wouldn't go that far._ Nagisa looked around and saw them all nod.

"Try not to regret saying that." Nagisa mumbled.

"The only thing I regret is the time we were kids and you somehow convinced me to shave my eyebrows." Yaya quipped, putting her index fingers over both eyebrows.

"I doubt you really regret that since you got me back by pouring water down my pants and telling everyone that I pissed myself." Nagisa glared at Yaya, then at Hikari and Tamao who were both laughing, though they were at least courteous enough to try and hold it in.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Yaya replied with a cheeky grin, indicating that she hadn't forgotten it at all and just wanted Nagisa to say it. _Damn it._

Nagisa glanced at the four girls that were all looking back at her expectantly. Tamao was the only one that didn't share their anticipation, simply because she already knew the story. "Do you all really want to hear it?" They nodded their heads. "Fine." Nagisa stared at the table, not wanting to make any eye contact while she spoke.

Nagisa started the story off the same way she had before when telling it only to Tamao. Unlike last time, she eventually went into more details about how she felt at the time. No one could speak up when Nagisa said that she felt responsible for their deaths. If she hadn't switched seats with her mother, she wouldn't have taken the full impact of the truck and died instantly. She could have survived like Nagisa had. If she hadn't lost her anger in the hospital, her father might not have died. They were baseless claims against her, and the others knew it, but they couldn't say anything. Nagisa truly felt that it was her fault that they had died. Whether the feeling was always there or if it was something she felt after looking back on it, none of them knew.

She didn't expect anyone to speak up, so without bothering to wait, Nagisa continued to speak. "After I was released from the hospital, I was pushed from one relative to the other. No one wanted to take me in and most of them even blamed me for their deaths, not that I don't understand their logic. Why did two great people have to die while only their brat of a child lived?" Nagisa's voice was disturbingly hollow and her only lovely eyes were empty.

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it." Yaya spoke up, glaring at the redhead. "You were kind to everyone and you always tried to make new people fit in and befriend them. There's no way you were close to being a brat."

"Then why? Why is it that even when I'm a victim, I'm treated like unwanted trash? My parents died and I was left all alone. No one cared about the girl who was left behind! I would have been nothing more than a burden to them. If gramps didn't care about his daughter so much, he probably wouldn't have bothered with me either." Nagisa could feel her body trembling, but she couldn't stop herself from continuing. "It's always been like this. No matter how close I get to people, something will happen and everyone will turn their backs to me. Even when I was the victim, I would be blamed for what happened."

Nagisa held her head as the memories came to her. "Those looks of disgust that I've become so accustomed to seeing. Their glares that told me I should just disappear. My friends and family betrayed me because of things that happened to me; they left me for things that were _done to me._ I was always left with nothing. The only reason I returned to Japan is because I was ra-" Nagisa put her hands over her mouth to prevent the last word from escaping.

A silence loomed over the room with the exception of Nagisa's weak sobbing. _Damn it. Why do I keep crying in front of people?_ This wasn't a side of Nagisa that any of them had truly seen before. This wasn't the outgoing, teasing, overly excited girl that they had all become friends with. The Nagisa in front of them, the one that had just unintentionally poured her heart out, was like a little girl, crying because she was afraid that she would be left alone. Her reasons for befriending everyone she met had become abundantly obvious. She wanted to belong. She wanted to make friends so that she wouldn't be alone anymore. Nagisa wanted to finally find people that wouldn't turn their backs on her. She just wanted to be happy.

The sound of movement didn't take Nagisa by surprise. She knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. One by one, everyone at this table would leave, and she would be sitting there alone with nothing to keep her company other than her own tears. That was what she believed, so she wasn't sure how to react when a pair of arms wrapped around her as Tsubomi spoke softly to her.

"You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes: The idea came to me after writing the last chapter, so you guys get an early release. I'm so good to you all, aren't I? This chapter isn't as long as the previous ones had been, but I felt that this was a good place to end it. There was a larger focus on angst this time around compared to the other chapters. Had to justify using the angst tag instead of humor, right?<strong>_

**Bonar**_** – I would think at worst, she would be completely insane. I tried to make her less…off her knocker, I guess. I don't think Tamao should be as crazy now since Nagisa isn't so hopelessly oblivious to everything.**_

**Artful Lounger**_** –The idea of proposing a threeway would have been hilarious and I wish I had thought of it. How do you tutor someone in PE? If she were going to do that, might as well make it sex ed. "Oh Tsubomi~! Instead of English today, I thought I'd educate you in sex ed instead." "Nagisa! They don't teach that here, you idiot!" "They don't, but I do." Bow chika wah wah.**_

**Obsidian and Cobalt**_** – Studies show that chairs are the most effective weapon. They're great for melee and they're versatile enough to be used at projectiles. **_

**KittyAttack**_** – It'd be kind of weird if I just wrote 'oh she was molested by the same guy teehee'. As for being related, that wouldn't really work either since the changes in Nagisa's life compared to the anime start after she was born, not that I put that much thought into it. I think I hinted before that Yaya was A-chan when Hikari became enthusiastic about Nagisa meeting A-chan again. Wasn't a very useful hint, but I didn't want to completely pull it out of my ass.**_

**lord orion123**_** – Claptrap was an awesome character, second only to Scooter. But yeah, I haven't seen a Nagisa/Tsubomi pair on here, probably because it wouldn't fit canon at all until now. **_

**the cold raven**_** – Interestingly enough, there will be mention of what Nagisa perceives as a love triangle developing in the next chapter, but it's not between those three. Who is it? I won't tell. Mwahaha**_

**teufelchen29**_** – Thanks! It seemed like a good idea since Miyuki already had feelings for Shizuma before Nagisa ever showed up, and the two probably would have ended up together if Kaori never transferred in. At least, that's how I see it.**_

**MakenaiRaven**_**- Me? Inspiring someone? What is this I don't even. It looks like I'm going to be the first unless someone writes one before this is done just to be like "lol first"**_

**hello**_** – Tsubomi is so cute that everyone should want her, not just Yaya. Perhaps I can remedy the situation.**_

**kaizer20**_** – I woke up and found a large number of reviews in my inbox and I was like "Holy hell I'm popular!" You really caught me by surprise for reviewing all ten chapters in a row. I know the first chapter wasn't very appealing. I thought about going back and redoing it, but I also thought about leaving it alone to show how much less the story sucked over time. As for gramps, I'll probably have him come in at some point later on, but considering how little I plan ahead, I'm not sure yet. I usually change my mind so much that planning ahead is counter-productive. Oh, and if this was a horror, there would have totally been a knife and a GAME OVER screen to follow. **_

**romancejunkie**_** – I hope you're doing well too. Don't feel bad about not knowing what I plan to do. I NEVER know what the hell I'm doing. The reason I always prefer NagisaxTamao over NagisaxShizuma is pretty much because I hate that Tamao and Miyuki both got screwed over a couple that really didn't seem that great and that their feelings were unnoticed. I bet in the anime, Tamao totally molests Nagisa after the final episode when she returns to the room. "Nagisa deserves someone that will treat her fairly and not try to protect her through any and everything." That's true as well. If this was Katawa Shoujo, Tamao would have totally gotten the worst ending on Hanako's route.**_

**Ctb_ – I think I messed up that balance a little with this chapter, huh? It's a coincidence. I've never watched/read/played/whatever Pitch Black, as indicated that I don't even know if that's a book or a show or what. The reason that Nagisa is better at seeing in the dark is because her eyes are always dilated because she's always wearing some type of cover over her eyes, so she doesn't need to adjust to the darkness. Yeah, I think that makes sense. Maybe._ **


	12. Trust and Affection

Nagisa woke the next morning and stretched out in her bed. The first thing that came to her mind was how great she slept last night, which she immediately found suspicious. She had realized that whenever she talked about her past, her nightmares would only become worse. She couldn't understand how she slept so well after what happened last night. Her first assumption was that she was in Tamao's bed, but after looking around, she saw that she was in her own bed, and Tamao was still asleep in her own bed as usual.

Nagisa suddenly felt something shifting in the covers against her. _Did we get a cat?_ She looked down at the moving sheets and her eyes widened. _That's definitely too big to be a cat!_ She lifted the covers to find a sleeping Tsubomi with an arm wrapped around her. _How the hell did this happen?_ Nagisa jumped back in surprise, a stupid reaction to have because it pulled both Tsubomi and herself off of the bed.

"Huh? Wha- ahh!" Tsubomi screamed as they came crashing down, the sheets lazily following them and landing over the two. There was frantic movement under the sheets as the two girls tried to escape the tangle of bed covering that had trapped them. When they finally escaped its wrath, the pinkette found herself on top of Nagisa, her hands holding her up on each side of Nagisa's body. Her legs had one of Nagisa's pinned between them.

Tsubomi made a surprised gasp at how close they were, but her surprise quickly faded into concern when she saw and felt Nagisa's body become stiff. At first, she thought Nagisa was nervous, but Tsubomi realized that it was panic, perhaps even fear. She pushed herself off of Nagisa and the redhead immediately sat up and took a few ragged breaths. _Too close. Too damn close._

"N-Nagisa?" Tsubomi asked nervously, placing her hand on the older girl's shoulder. Nagisa jumped in surprise, but didn't move away or look back at the pinkette. It didn't take her long to put together that Nagisa wasn't afraid of her; rather, it was the supposedly intimate way that she had fallen on her. She didn't have to wonder why when she saw Nagisa gripping her wrist again. "I'm sorry." She spoke quietly.

"It's not your fault." There was apprehension in her voice. "I was the one that pulled us off the bed. More importantly…" Nagisa pointed over her shoulders to the clock. "You still have to sneak back to your room, unless you want some rumors to spread~" Nagisa teased, but it didn't have the same humor it usually did. Her frightened face only made her teasing more unbelievable. It was obvious that Nagisa was just trying to change the subject. Tsubomi didn't bring it up and simply nodded her head before sneaking out.

"Are you alright?" Tamao asked once Tsubomi left. Nagisa looked up at Tamao, who was looking down at Nagisa's lap. The redhead looked down and saw that she was holding her wrist tight enough to cut off circulation to her other hand. She released her grip and moved her numb fingers.

"No, not really. Being in that position reminded me of something I hate thinking about." Nagisa mumbled, tossing the sheets back onto the bed and lying down on the floor.

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here." Tamao said as she sat up.

"Me too." Tsubomi's voice came from behind the door.

"Thanks…" Nagisa mumbled, feeling a bit awkward. She heard the sound of footsteps growing quieter as they moved further away from the door. She brought a hand up to her face and felt that it was strangely warm. _Why am I blushing?_ She shook her head and stared at the ceiling.

Nagisa glanced over at Tamao, who was already getting ready for class. She closed her eyes. _They say that they're willing to listen, but is it something I can really talk about? Trusting people has only caused me pain. Won't it just be a repeat if I trust these people as well? How would they react if I told them I was raped? That I tried to kill myself? What if I told them everything, including the girl that died? Hikari and Chiyo would probably try to act like everything is normal, but they would most likely pity me. Yaya would probably react the same way that Shizuma did. Tamao and Tsubomi would…I'm not really sure. I don't think they would pity me, but I can't really see them reacting like Shizuma and Miyuki._

"_You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."_

Tsubomi's words suddenly played in her mind and she didn't need to touch her face to know she was blushing this time. _Why would she say something like that? She even stayed here overnight after everyone else had left, just to prove her point. Why would she do that? Does she pity me?_ Nagisa sat up. _No, that's not it. Damn it. When did I get so bad at reading people?_ Deciding to drop the thought, she looked to Tamao for a new subject to think about.

"So, how long have you had a crush on Chikaru-chan?" She asked innocently, not bothering to think of ways to tease the blunette.

"I don't." Tamao answered. _What?_

"That's not what you said last night." (Giggity)

"I know." Tamao mumbled, sitting on the bed. "It wasn't a situation where I could say who I really liked. Besides, like you said, I should tell my best friend before telling everyone else, right?"

"So who do you really like?" _Situation? Did she like someone who was in the room?_ "Is it Hikari?"

Tamao looked like she was going to laugh, but just shook her head. Her cheeks were a light shade of pink as she stuttered out "I like Yaya-chan."

"Really?" Nagisa asked in shock. Once it registered, Nagisa nearly banged her head on the bedpost. _Fuuuuuuuuck! She likes the same person Tsubomi likes and I already promised Tsubomi that I would help her get together with Yaya. I just got pulled into someone's love triangle. Damn it_. "So how long have you liked Yaya-chan? I'm assuming you didn't meet her for the first time when I did."

"I met her during summer last year and…" Tamao's face turned red.

"And our cute little Tamao developed a crush?" Nagisa asked with a grin. She hadn't intended to tease Tamao, but now she just couldn't help herself. "Well, as your best friend, I am obligated to support you in your conquest of love." Nagisa smiled at her friend, ignoring her inner turmoil.

Tamao returned the smile. "If Nagisa is on my side, I'm sure it will go well." _Yeah, except that I'm also on Tsubomi's side. No matter how this goes, someone's going to have a broken heart. Damn love triangles. Why couldn't whoever Yaya asked out have said yes? What am I supposed to do? Do I tell one of them that the other has a crush on Yaya? Do I talk to Yaya? I know even less about love than I thought I did. It's probably better if I stop interfering completely. I'm going to end up ruining everything._

* * *

><p>Time seemed to pass far too quickly for Nagisa to keep up. The hours became days and just as quickly became weeks. Almost every night since the first tea party, they would gather in her and Tamao's room. Who showed up each night often varied depending on whether they felt like it or not. Tamao had even invited Mizushima and Chihaya to come to their room as well. It was pretty easy for those two, considering they were right next door.<p>

It was some point during the second week after starting their late night tea parties that Nagisa realized something interesting. Other than herself and Tamao, the only other person who was there every night was Tsubomi, which Nagisa found odd since Tsubomi was at the greatest risk of being caught, being the furthest away. During the first week, Nagisa would sneak off to Tsubomi's room and help her find her way. When Tsubomi declared that she would be able to handle it on her own, Nagisa found that she was oddly disappointed and she didn't know why.

Another thing that Nagisa noticed over time is that love was making it seem like the others were beginning to drift away. The most obvious example was the ever so lovey dovey couple of Shizuma and Miyuki. Nagisa knew that if she didn't beat the Etoile to Miyuki's room, the two of them would most likely be doing something naughty and she did _not_ want to walk in on that. She had hardly spoken to the two of them since they got together, but it's not like she didn't understand. From what she had seen, once you fall in love, your friends and everything else becomes second on your mind and in your heart. Nagisa recalled someone calling it the 'honeymoon phase' of new relationships.

Even those that weren't dating seemed to be drifting away from her as well. She could swear that Chihaya and Mizushima were dating, considering that they argued and immediately made up like a couple of love-struck idiots. Hikari had been trying to get closer to Amane, and for the first time, it seemed like there was someone more oblivious to love than she was. Nagisa really wanted to meet Amane just to see if this was actually true.

The couple that she found to be the strangest and most interesting was Yaya and Tamao. Nagisa had offered to help Tamao, but the blunette rejected her and said that she wanted to try and win Yaya's heart through her own efforts. She was disappointed, but she was also proud of her friend for it. She really wasn't sure how she did it, but Tamao seemed to have gotten closer to Yaya. The two of them sat next to each other at night and joked with each other, and she could swear that Yaya was flirting with Tamao. Then again, that could just be Yaya being Yaya.

As Nagisa looked around the table at her friends, she couldn't help but frown. All the usual members were present tonight except for Chiyo, who apparently had similar tea parties with her roommate and a few first year friends. Even as she looked at all the familiar faces of what she would like to call 'good friends', she felt so alone, perhaps even isolated.

The only thing that prevented her from truly feeling isolated was the one person that didn't drift away from her. The girl sitting next to her now, the only one that seemed to have actually gotten closer to her in the past few weeks. She wasn't sure when she noticed it, but whenever Tsubomi sat next to her, which happened to be every night now, she would always sit a little more than a foot away and over time, she would inch closer until their arms almost touched.

Nagisa wasn't sure how to explain why it was happening. Having Tsubomi so close to her felt strangely comforting, but it also made her feel horrible. Of all the people in their group that had a love interest, Tsubomi was probably the only that had made no progress at all. Even though she had promised to help the pinkette with her love, she had done absolutely nothing to help her. _Surely Tsubomi had realized by now that Tamao likes Yaya and the two of them are becoming closer. If she has, why does she keep ignoring it? Why is it that I'm the one that she's staying close to?_

Nagisa remembered Tsubomi's words from that night and she found herself full of dread and guilt. _Is it my fault that she's not getting closer to Yaya? Does she feel obligated to stay close to me, forsaking her own love for my sake? I'm the worst._ Nagisa nearly jumped when she felt a hand on hers. She looked down to see Tsubomi looking at her with concern and she really hoped that she wasn't blushing. _Why do I feel like this?_ She smiled at Tsubomi who returned the smile.

"Well aren't you two close?" Yaya asked, sporting her typical teasing grin.

"Shut up, idiot!" Tsubomi said in anger, blushing.

"Aww man. She's back in tsundere mode already." Yaya sighed in disappointment.

"Who are you calling a tsundere?" Tsubomi crossed her arms and glared at the raven-haired Spican.

Nagisa looked down at her hand and noticed that it felt strangely warm, as if Tsubomi's hand was still holding it. _Is it because someone else grabbed my hand? No, Tamao used to do it all the time and the touch never…lingered before. Is it because it was Tsubomi who did it? That can't be right. She likes Yaya. I'm just…_ _I don't even know anymore._

* * *

><p>She must have been glaring at her for five minutes by now. "No matter how long you glare, I'm not going to apologize." Yaya replied, maintaining her grin despite the vicious look that was directed at her. She clearly didn't regret her actions at all, and only found Nagisa's anger to be amusing.<p>

"It's your fault that we're in this situation." Nagisa was tempted to whack Yaya with the mop in her hand. While they were in the hall, Yaya had ended up running right into the head sister, and Nagisa got in trouble as well for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now the two of them were tasked with cleaning the cafeteria. "You just had to run in the hall, didn't you, Miss Rebel?"

"It's not my fault that she just happened to be right around the corner."

"No, but it is your fault that you were running when she was around the corner." Nagisa sighed. Arguing with Yaya never went well.

"Cheer up. This place is practically clean already."

"I know that." Nagisa rolled her eyes. "She sent us here just to keep you out of the way."

"Out of the way of what?" Yaya tilted her head innocently, as if anyone would actually fall for her trying to be naïve.

"Everything."

Yaya replied to Nagisa's remark by clutching a hand over her heart and looking flabbergasted. "No way!" _Idiot._ Nagisa decided to simply ignore Yaya and resume cleaning. Yaya reluctantly followed her example, and the two cleaned in silence for a few minutes before the Spican simply had to break the silence. "You and Tsubomi-chan seem pretty close lately." She spoke up with that ever present hint of teasing. _Oh, sure. You can notice something like that, but you don't realize that you're the one she likes._

"I could say the same thing about you and Tamao. For someone who didn't come here to find a girlfriend, you sure have been flirting with my best friend a lot lately." Nagisa looked back at Yaya and grinned when she saw Yaya blushing. _Yaya_ of all people was blushing! _I wish I had a camera. This is the very definition of a Kodak moment!_ "Wow. You must really like her if _you're_ the one blushing."

"S-so what if I do?" _Good job, Tamao. _She glared at Nagisa, clearly despising the fact that the tables had turned. "You got a problem with it?"

"Not at all~" Nagisa replied teasingly. "In fact, someone like Tamao might get you to stop being so rebellious. You might actually go to all your classes, _A-chan_. When are you going to ask her out?"

"How can I ask her out when she told everyone that she like Chikaru? It'd be pointless to ask her out, _Sa-chan_. Though it is a bit strange. I flirted with her just for the heck of it and she ended up flirting back. That might have been my intention, but..."

Nagisa reached her hand out and flicked Yaya on the forehead. "Idiot. Since when has the great A-chan ever backed down and given up? I know you're the type to keeping going for something you want because you somehow got my ass in trouble so many times with your selfish attitude. Don't try to act innocent and helpless now. If you like her, ask her out. The worst that could happen is she says no." _That's not really true, but it's probably the worst thing Tamao would do._

Nagisa had an unreadable expression that made Yaya arch an eyebrow, but she just shrugged. "Maybe I will. When are you going to ask Tsubomi out, or are you waiting for her to ask you out?" Yaya replied, all too eager to be the teaser again.

"Stupid. Why would she ask me out when you're the one she likes?" Nagisa asked, her eyes widening when Yaya laughed in response.

"She likes me? Do you really believe that?" When she saw that Nagisa was serious, she laughed harder. "Ah, that's a good one. There's no way that I'm the one that pipsqueak likes." She picked herself off the floor after having fallen over in her laughing fit. "Remember when I said I asked someone out before and got rejected? That was Tsubomi." _What? WHAT?_

"You're kidding me." _Why did she lie to me?_ Nagisa thought back to Tsubomi's reason for lying and felt that she was blushing. _It couldn't be. Tsubomi really likes... me? No way._ Nagisa recalled the way Tsubomi always acted whenever Yaya teased her about her love for Hikari, even when they first met. _Could it be that she always looked sad because she felt some sort of guilt after rejecting her?__ I don't really understand._

"Not at all. She said I wasn't her type. She wanted someone that was easy to talk to but would take things like academics and relationships seriously. I wasn't that type of person when I asked her out. Hell, I was only asking her out because I thought it would be fun. You, on the other hand, are totally her type and then some. Hell, you're one of the nicest people I've ever met. You're one of those ridiculously nice people that always want to help others with their burden, though it would be nice if you shared your burdens with others." The fact that Yaya seemed to be completely honest only made Nagisa's blush deepen. _Why am I getting so embarrassed over this?_ "Are you saying you don't like her back?"

"I…" Nagisa wasn't sure how to answer. "I don't know." _Sure, I got close to her pretty quickly, but I try to do the same for a lot of my friends. Is she something more than the rest?_ Nagisa looked at her hand and remembered the feeling of Tsubomi's hand on hers. It wasn't like when Tamao or someone else held her hand. The feeling seemed to last for hours after she let go. Was it simply because someone touched her first instead of her touching them? Was it because it had been _Tsubomi_ that touched her? Nagisa wasn't sure, and her hopelessly confused face told Yaya as much.

"You really don't know, do you?" Yaya frowned slightly, surprisingly more out of concern rather than having her punch lines go to waste.

"I don't have a clue. I have no idea what it feels like to be in love or to even have a crush on someone. I thought I might have liked Tamao at one point, but I realized that it was nothing more than friendship. How am I supposed to know if what I feel for Tsubomi is any different? When does friendship become something more? If it's hugging and holding hands, I do that with a lot of people already. I just don't know what love is." Nagisa sat down in one of the chairs and rubbed her temples.

"That's...a really philosophical complaint. If she asked you out, how would you react?" Yaya asked.

Nagisa's eyes widened again, but she closed them after realizing why Yaya asked. "I'd probably look at her in disbelief, but that's probably how I would react to anyone that asked me out." _That's how I reacted to him._

"Hmm…" Yaya rubbed her chin as she thought, apparently taking this seriously. "How did you feel when she said you wouldn't be alone anymore?"

"I was happy." Nagisa replied without having to think about it. "I don't think that really helps the case either way. It's the words that made me happy more than it mattering which one of you guys said it."

"I guess that's true…" Yaya sighed and her face scrunched slightly as she seemed to try thinking harder. "What about things like kissing and other naughty acts?"

"I don't think about things like that." Instead of getting a blush and embarrassed reaction that Yaya was aiming for to lighten the redhead's mood, Nagisa's answer was quick and quiet, yet her voice was disturbingly cold.

Yaya hesitated for a moment before leaning forward to get a good look at Nagisa's face since the redhead was looking down at the ground. She pulled back slightly when she saw that, despite the cold voice, she looked like she was panicking. "Why don't you think about it?"

"Because there are some things that I don't want to remember." Her voice was shaky and hesitant. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." Nagisa stood up and turned to leave, but Yaya caught her arm. "Let go." She demanded, anger rising as she spoke. Her body was visibly shaking now.

"I won't. What are you hiding? What are you so afraid of?"

"Let go!" Nagisa screamed, desperately trying to free her arm. When she got out of Yaya's grip, she quickly backed away from the raven-haired girl. Nagisa looked absolutely terrified. Yaya reached her hand out for Nagisa, but the redhead flinched away from her.

"A-chan?" Yaya was genuinely concerned. She had never known her friend to be afraid of anything before, but now the girl was terrified, and it was her fault. "What… happened to you?" Nagisa looked down at the ground and mumbled something under her breath. "What?" Yaya leaned forward a little, trying to hear her old friend. When she saw tears rolling down Nagisa's cheeks, she didn't know what to do. Approaching her would only scare her away, but how could she just leave her to cry?

"…ed." She mumbled again and Yaya asked her to repeat herself. Nagisa grit her teeth and tightly clutched the apron she was wearing. Her knuckles quickly turned white due to her ridiculously strong grip on it. "I said I was raped!" She shouted the moment the cafeteria doors swung open. Her blood ran cold as she slowly turned around, barely registering the shock on Yaya's face as she looked back to see Tamao and Tsubomi had just walked in, sharing Yaya's stunned expression. _It's over. It's all over._ Nagisa ran out of the cafeteria, ignoring someone's scream for her to come back. She didn't know who it was and she didn't care._ Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why, damn it? Why?_

* * *

><p>Nagisa completely avoided all of her tea party friends over the next few days. During class, she would silently do her work and follow along with the lessons, then immediately leave the moment class ended before Tamao could talk to her. During breakfast and dinner, she would sit with a different group of students that she knew little about and get to know them better before sitting with another group and talking to them, hardly eating anything as she did so. She didn't want to get too close to anyone, but the fear of being alone was just as strong. In the end, it only made her feel worse.<p>

She stopped attending the late night tea parties. In fact, she rarely returned to her room at all anymore. On the day she ran away from her friends, Shizuma had found her crying in the greenhouse. Nagisa had thought no one would go there since Shizuma was most likely too busy with Miyuki to go there. Fortunately or not, depending on which way you looked at it, Miyuki was busy with paperwork that day and Shizuma had nothing better to do. The Etoile offered Nagisa her room for the time being after Nagisa explained what happened. Nagisa refused at first, but Shizuma insisted, stating that "I usually sleep with Miyuki nowadays anyway" and added a wink to try and make the redhead laugh, but it didn't get any reaction. Eventually, she managed to convince Nagisa to take the offer by saying it was thanks for helping her get together with Miyuki and an apology for spending so little time with her lately.

Her daily routine became consistent and uneventful. She would sneak in Shizuma's room after lights out, and then sneak out the next morning without getting much sleep, if any at all. She would have breakfast with a new group of students, study somewhat diligently in class, then escape and wander around campus to hide somewhere until it was night. Then she would have dinner, hide again, then sneak into Shizuma's room and the routine would repeat itself once again.

Nagisa eventually grew tired of this day-to-day repetition. The long times spent in hiding were causing her to start talking to herself again, and that was a habit she did not want to bring back. To avoid regressing back into her insanity, she forced herself to head out in search of a club to join. She had been putting it off for a while after leaving the literature club, but now seemed as good a time as any to find one.

As she looked through Miator's clubs, she had to admit that she was very disappointed. It seemed that over half of the clubs had something to do with some type of tradition, like an old type of dance she saw and someone making tea with that thimble and brush thing. It looked so painstakingly boring. The archery club looked pretty interesting, and seeing Mizushima shoot was pretty impressive considering that the girl looked like she would rather be asleep any other time.

The only club in Miator that she considered joining was the drama club, which was a club she considered joining before she even transferred in. She would have signed up right away, but they were in the middle of performing a play when she stopped by, so she decided to look around some more before picking anything. Nagisa hadn't expected the rest of Miator's clubs to _suck_.

Nagisa left to go explore the other schools' clubs. She was about to head over to Spica to see if they had a track club, but changed her mind and went to Lulim instead. Spica's clubs were most likely all sports related, and she knew she was no longer in the capable physical condition that she used to be. She knew she would most likely embarrass herself.

As she looked through Lulim's clubs, she found them to be more interesting than the ones at Miator, but none of them really stood out. Sure, ones like the card club or fortune teller club might be fun for a few days, but Nagisa knew that someone would most likely lose interest in those types of clubs after a few days if you weren't an enthusiast.

Nagisa stepped back outside and sighed in disappointment. "Nothing worth joining." She mumbled.

"Are you alright?" An unfamiliar voice asked, drawing Nagisa's attention to an orange-haired girl dressed in a ridiculous looking outfit that Nagisa can only assume by the red cross on the front that it was some sort of nurse…with wings. _What the fuck?_ "Could it be that you have a fever?" The mysterious, childish nurse asked with what seemed like hopeful enthusiasm. _It's like she wants me to be sick._

"Yeah, I must have a fever because I'm clearly delusional right now." Nagisa answered.

"That's not good." Another voice spoke up and Nagisa was greeted by a green-haired girl in a pink nurse outfit with an unnecessarily large needle in her hands. "Shall we give you an injection?" _These two look strangely familiar, but I don't remember ever speaking with them._

"No way!" Nagisa protested. "That needle is clearly too large for industry standards and an injection from something like that would be an obvious overdose." She pointed accusingly at the two nurses. "I'll sue you for malpractice!"

"EH?" They both asked in shock.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" The naïve orange-haired nurse asked. "We're not really nurses, you know."

"Then you're posing as medical professionals!" Nagisa adjusted her sunglasses and pointed at them again. "That's a federal offense!" _I think._ "Do you know how many years you're going to spend in prison for this?"

"EHHH?" They both looked at each other nervously. _Come on. You can't both be this easy to fool._

"She's just teasing you both." A third voice decided to join them, but at least this one was a voice that Nagisa recognized.

"Oh, sure. Way to ruin my fun, Chikaru-chan." She looked back at Lulim's president as she joined the three of them, holding a large white hat. "Here you go, Kizuna-chan." As Nagisa watched Chikaru put the hat on the orange-haired girl, she couldn't help but think how accurate Yaya was about her. _She's totally like a mother._

She looked past Chikaru at the two blushing nurses and rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore it. She did _not_ want to get involved in another love triangle. The thought brought Tsubomi, Tamao, and Yaya back to her mind, but she quickly shook it off. Nagisa didn't feel like getting depressed about it again. She had done a good job of avoiding them so far and it should be pretty easy to keep it up for a while longer.

As Nagisa watched the girl named Kizuna and the unidentified green-haired nurse run off, she looked at Chikaru questioningly. "Why are they dressed as nurses? Cosplay?"

"We're the transformation club." Chikaru said, looking somewhat prideful.

"We? So you're in the club as well?" She looked in the direction the two cosplayers ran off, watching them harass another poor student that happened to sneeze. "Why aren't you dressed up?"

For a moment, Chikaru looked even more prideful, but she quickly shook it off to prevent boasting. "I make the costumes by using the other members as models. Well, I say others, but there are only three of us." _I suppose there would only be so many people into cosplay at a school like this._ "Why don't you join, Nagisa-chan? I could use more models~" Chikaru asked with a cheerful smile and more excitement than necessary.

"Huh?" Nagisa looked at her skeptically. She had seen enough pictures from anime conventions to know that cosplay can get pretty out of hand. "I don't know about that." Even though she said that, she wasn't sure if she should be disturbed by the fact that she was actually considering it. _So it's either acting or cosplay, huh? The choice should be obvious, but I'm actually considering the alternative for some reason._

Despite her reluctance, Chikaru seemed to already be sizing her up. "When I look at you, I picture you wearing this and that. I feel so inspired just thinking about it." She put an arm around Nagisa and gave her a smile she easily recognized. "Won't you join?" She asked sweetly.

"That's pretty impressive, but salesman smiles don't work on me." Nagisa answered, grinning when Chikaru's eyes widened from the surprise of being caught.

"You saw through me?" Chikaru frowned slightly, and when Nagisa thought about it, this was the first time she saw Chikaru without a smile. It felt so _weird_ and out of place.

"I've been acting long enough to recognize that smile anywhere. Do you act?" _I ask her, but it's obvious that she does. She pulled off that smile so flawlessly that I would have been fooled if I didn't do it so often myself._

"I do, but I enjoy things like club activities even more." Chikaru smiled again, a genuine smile this time.

"Hmm…" Nagisa crossed her arms and looked up in thought. She could see out of the corner of her eyes that Chikaru had crossed her fingers. It almost made Nagisa smirk, but she resisted the urge. _I'm here for three years, so I can always join the drama club next year. Besides, if I don't like it, I can just leave. I am curious about what kind of costumes she'll make. It could be interesting._ Nagisa sighed. "Alright, I'll join." She smiled at how much Chikaru's face seemed to light up when she agreed. "But nothing skimpy or anything that shows off my midriff." The first one Chikaru could understand, but she raised an eyebrow at the second one. "Personal reasons. Your costumes don't seem perverted, so I don't have any problem with joining."

"That's wonderful!" She turned around and called to her fellow members, showing no signs of embarrassment when the other nearby students stopped to stare before continuing on. _This might be the norm for Lulim._

"You're really joining? That's great!" Kizuna said cheerfully. "Welcome aboard!" She took Nagisa's hand and shook it wildly. _This girl's energy meter is through the damn roof._

"I hope we get along." The green-haired girl, apparently named Remon, added when Kizuna finally settled down. _My arm is numb. At least she seems mature enough to not yank my arm off, but she's probably as easily excitable as Kizuna is._

"Let's have a fun year together." Nagisa replied with a warm smile. She looked at Chikaru. "So do you need my measurements?" _I wish I had kept that paper I gave Tamao when I transferred._

"No need, I already have it." Chikaru answered, pointing at her eyes. _Seriously? She must have been doing this for a long time if she can tell my size just by looking. It feels perverted somehow._

"I'm so excited! I'm going to get started right away! Our clubroom is the one at the end of the hall, so feel free to come by whenever you can." Chikaru said cheerfully before sprinting into the building.

"She sure is eager." Nagisa commented offhandedly as she watched Lulim's president run off to design a new cosplay outfit.

"I heard that she's been doing things like this since she was a child. It's her favorite hobby." Remon replied. Nagisa looked back and forth between the second years.

"She's certainly good at it. Oh well. I'll come back some other time. I've gotta head back now." Nagisa said and waved at the two before walking off. She wasn't sure why she just lied to them to leave. Perhaps she just didn't feel like she had enough energy to keep up with those two. It certainly seemed logical.

* * *

><p>She wasn't really sure what time it was when she returned to Shizuma's room. She figured she still had a few more hours before dinner, so she plopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It probably wasn't even a full minute after she entered the room before the sound of the door clicking open caught her attention. Nagisa thought it was Shizuma at first, but she quickly jumped to her feet when she saw Yaya enter the room, followed by Tsubomi and Tamao. "Why are you three here?" She asked nervously, backing towards the window. <em>I'm on the first floor. If I can get the window open, escaping should be easy.<em> Nagisa wasn't even sure why she still wanted to run, but she just had a feeling that she didn't want to be here.

"How long are you going to run away from us?" Tsubomi asked. Nagisa immediately felt concerned by how weak and quiet her question was. Upon closer inspection, Tsubomi looked pale, tired, and a bit sickly, just like Nagisa. _Has she not been eating or sleeping properly either?_

Nagisa wasn't able to give an answer, so Yaya spoke up. "Why do you keep running? We're your friends, damn it. You don't have any reason to run from us." Nagisa looked away.

Tamao spoke up next. "You already know that we're not going to force you to tell us anything. We're your friends and we'll always be here to listen when you want to talk, but we're not going to make you talk about something when you aren't ready. You don't have to run from us; we aren't chasing you. We care about you and we know you care about us. Believe in us." Nagisa looked back and forth between the three of them. _Can I trust them? Is it safe to make myself vulnerable again?_

"_Hell, you're one of the nicest people I've ever met. You're one of those ridiculously nice people that always want to help others with their burden, though it would be nice if you shared your burdens with others."_

"_I won't pity you, because you do not pity yourself. You're my closest friend and you mean a lot to me. I won't ask you what happened that made you want to take your life, but I will always be here and willing to listen whenever you're ready to talk about it."_

_"You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."_

Nagisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _I can't keep running away like this. They aren't going to leave me like those in the past. These three already know I've been raped, but they haven't abandoned me. They're still by my side, even when all I wanted to do was to hide from them. I feel like I've betrayed their trust by running away._

"Please…" Nagisa spoke softly. "Listen to what I have to say."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note: Are you guys getting your fill of the angst? <strong>_

_**Behold, the power of sardines! No wait, I meant friendship. Her friends haven't abandoned her after hearing that she was raped, but how will they react after hearing the full story?**_

_**The next chapter is probably what a lot of you have been waiting for. Chapter 13 will reveal Nagisa's entire past, starting from…somewhere after she transferred to America and ending at her transfer back into Japan. Are you excited?**_

**Artful Lounger – **_**Tamao's overexcitement and whatnot will be explained in chapter…14 probably.**_

**KittyAttack – **_**Don't write something off because it seems simple. I'm not a complicated person. We could always scrap the pairings and go for one big orgy.**_

**lord orion123 – **_**There's nothing cuter than the dere side of a tsundere. As for the other pink haired girl, I have no idea. I'm gonna guess Hinagiku or Aria, but that's probably not right. **_

**romancejunkie – **_**I'm not gonna let a main character like Tamao become the crazy old lady that lives with forty cats. I'm just a student in the wonderfully exciting world of accounting. Working at a medical company gave me the idea of how to handle Kizuna and Remon, though I'm not sure how I connected that. **_

**the cold raven – **_**Next up is the love scatterbox where all of Lulim has a crush on Chikaru and there's an epic battle to death for her affection. Protip: I might be lying. Maybe.**_

**Ctb – **_**I didn't really try too hard to hide who A-chan was. Once the acting thing was mentioned, it pretty much narrowed it down to Yaya and Chikaru. I just never liked those overly ignorant main characters. I was watching it and I was like "Y U NO SEE THE LOVE?" We're going for the best ending. Everyone gets their happy ending! …maybe. **_

**kaizer20 – **_**You were hacked? That's extreme lamesauce. You laughed at angst? That's so mean! I wasn't planning on killing anyone since I'm more of an angst writer than a tragedy/murder one…for now. Mwahaha. As for sex, I **_**really**_** don't think that's gonna be happen. It wouldn't really fit and I can't write lemon worth a damn. It's not 40,000 words, but how about 40,000 characters? Or close enough, anyway. **_

**TheNomade5 – **_**I think I just disappointed you. Sorry :(**_

**Joy – **_**That's certainly the plot of the anime, but fanfiction can have whatever plot it wants. Because it's not the same Nagisa, she and Shizuma would have different reactions to each other that lead to them being friends and nothing more. **_


	13. The Build Up to the Break Down

**WARNING: This is the chapter that earns the M rating. You have been warned.  
><strong>

**First Grade**

_I hate this country._

I looked around my new classroom with a great deal of disdain. Students would frequently glance back at me before turning and whispering among themselves, as if I didn't understand what they were saying. At the time, my grasp on English wasn't very strong because I had only learned what they taught us in kindergarten plus what little my grandfather taught me over the summer before my transfer. That wasn't exactly enough knowledge to hold a prolonged conversation, but I was fine with that.

_Why would I want to talk to these people?_

_I hate these people. They keep looking back at me like I was some sort of freak show. Why were they looking at me like that? Was it because I had to wear sunglasses indoors? Was it because I was Asian and (as far as they knew) I didn't know any English? Do Americans just naturally treat new kids like they're some kind of weirdo?_

_I hate people._

_Humans are such selfish bastards. I hate them all. They're so quick to judge a person without even talking to them. They wear their fake smiles when they face you just to stab you in the back when you let your guard down. Words like 'family' and 'friend' are just useless titles others use to get close to you. They act like there's some sort of bond that's supposed to mean something, but when you come to them for help, they just laugh and shut the door in your face. Bastards._

I remained silent the entire year that I was there. I did not wish to speak to those who would gossip about me as if I weren't in the room. Whether it was during class, lunch or recess, I would sit by myself in a corner and pretend that everyone around me didn't exist.

When I watched the other students gather in their little cliques during lunch and recess, it made me think of A-chan. _I wish she was here. She always managed to make me laugh. She was the one person I knew would never lie to me. If she had something to say, she would just blurt it out regardless of the consequences. Sure, she would definitely tease someone, but she would never betray anyone. Probably._

Thinking about it as I watched the other students, I realized that I was jealous. I no longer had any friends to talk to. I didn't have anyone else anymore. I didn't really hate these kids around me. I hated that they would rather gossip about me instead of talking to me. _Why won't anyone talk to me?_ _Why do I have to be lonely? Why can't I have any friends or family? Why am I alone in this unfamiliar place?_ It was around this time that talking to myself became a habit again.

* * *

><p><strong>Summer Vacation; Age 7<strong>

My first year in America passed by in quiet solitude. Throughout the entire year, I never spoke a word to anyone. No one cared to speak to me, and I tried to convince myself that I was just fine with that. I felt so out of touch with the world around me. I didn't know anyone in this new environment, and no one here knew me. They probably thought that I felt I was too good to associate with any of them, but the truth is that I was just a lost girl in an unfamiliar place. I kept waiting, hoping that someone would reach out to me. After a year of silence, I realized that it wouldn't happen and it was too late for me to do anything about it.

_What am I supposed to do now?_ What _could_ I do? I had gone an entire year without talking to the people around me. Was I just supposed to pretend that never happened and try to be friendly? Wouldn't they just think I was a weirdo? Well, more than they already do.

I was trapped.

I had achieved the isolation that I thought I wanted and now I had no way of escaping it. How could I just walk up to people that probably already hate me and pretend to be friendly towards them? I couldn't make friends here. I was alone. There was no one I could reach out to for help. There was nothing I could do. There was no way out.

…or so I thought.

_We're moving?_ I thought as gramps rambled on about the incompetency of his board of directors, not that I understood most of what he was saying at the time. I did learn a few new American insults and curse words from it though, which is always nice. He was probably rambling for a good ten to fifteen minutes before he realized that what he was saying isn't something you should shout in front of a child. Or a teenager. Or hell, probably not an adult either.

"Ah, right." Ryoji mumbled as he stroked his long, grey beard. It was a habit I noticed he had whenever he was talking to someone or about something related to business. "Anyway, due to boring business reasons, we've relocated our company's headquarters out west, so we'll be moving at the end of the month, understand?" It wasn't complicated, but the distant look I always gave him made him unsure whether or not I was actually listening to him.

I nodded my head, confirming my understanding. I had tried to smile to show that I was really okay with it so he wouldn't change his mind, but I probably failed. Starting in a new school was my best chance at getting a new start again.

Gramps sighed at my silent answer. I knew I wasn't making this easy for him. He's only raised one child before, and I'm sure my mother was the complete opposite of how I am when she was my age. He probably wanted to say something, but he didn't add anymore and the conversation ended there. I didn't know what to do, and honestly, I think he was just as lost as I was.

It didn't take me long to pack. I hadn't brought much from Japan, and what little I did bring had barely been unpacked, with the exception of clothing. Packing up the rest of the house had been painstakingly long and aggravating, and gramps made sure to let me know that he felt the same way.

"I hate all this useless crap." He grumbled. "The whole point of its useless existence is to look pretty and be useless, just like the board of directors." At the time, I had no idea about what he was talking about. I was tempted to suggest hiring movers if it was really that annoying, but part of me thought that he just liked to complain for the sake of complaining. Perhaps he liked being able to complain when he didn't have to keep up the corporate appearance? I was too young to figure it out.

"If it's all so useless, why keep it around? Sell it, give it away, burn it in a bonfire, but why keep it to collect dust?" I asked it without even realizing it and completely ignored the humor in _that_ of all things being the first thing I said to him in the year that I've lived with him.

Ryoji let out a hearty laugh and rubbed my hair with one of his dusty hands. I'd have complained, but I was certain that I was already covered in dust. "It's all for the sake of appearances, lass. The first thing anyone will judge someone on is not their background, not their thoughts, nor is it their accomplishments. Before all of that, the first thing a person is judged on is their appearance. It's not always a conscious decision, but people will immediately judge your worth the moment they see you. The same can be said for the things you own, like your vehicle and your home."

As a naïve child, I was surprised by what he was saying and some of it was over my head. Even so, I felt like it was something important to know, and I wanted to know more. "If you're judged by the things you own, why don't you have a limo and a big mansion with like fifty maids or something freakishly over the top?"

Gramps laughed at me again. I don't know what he found more entertaining- my interest or my ignorance. "If you met someone who lived in such a mansion with that many maids, would you be able to approach them casually?"

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "I don't think so."

"Precisely." He smiled knowingly. "Wealth is power, and people with a great deal of power are difficult to approach. This is true in daily life for everyone, not just exclusively to the business world. People already know who I am and what I have done; they already know what business I run and studying financial reports will tell them how much wealth comes from that business. Due to all of this, I give off the impression that I am unapproachable, which can prevent me from establishing new business contacts. To alleviate this, I have to give myself a more humble, average appearance. The suits I wear are nice, but they're not the super high quality Italian suits that look damn fine. Instead of living in a huge mansion with a large roster of maids, I live in a regular home with my granddaughter. Things like those give off the impression that I'm more within reach than if I were to flaunt my money, understand?"

I nodded my head vigorously. Some of it didn't make sense at first, but then I compared it to acting. "It's like you're an actor on stage, and in order to truly convince your audience that you're really the role you're playing, you designed the setting and background to suit your character." _Does that mean I'm a prop?_

Gramps looked at me strangely for a moment, then shrugged and nodded his head. He most likely figured that I got the gist of what he was saying, but didn't know where I pulled the comparison from. "That's… an interesting way of putting it." _He's making fun of me._ "That's not a bad way of putting it, actually. Lying and deception are pretty common actions in business. You could say that we're all actors trying to shift the play in our favor, though reality isn't scripted like a play is. That's probably a good thing. Whoever wrote this nonsense would have their ass fired in a heartbeat." Gramps went on another one of his rants that I barely listened to as we resumed packing.

_An actor that can change the outcome of an unscripted play…_ The thought intrigued me. _If we are all actors, that would make the entire world one big stage. If I ignore what I currently feel about my situation, I can change it into something better. I won't be the sad little girl that wants someone to reach out to me; I can be the outgoing girl that naturally draws others to me. If I can do this, I won't be alone anymore. I didn't have trouble making friends before everything that happened last year, so if I act like the tomboy that everyone knew me as before, I should be able to make friends again. It's a new school where no one knows anything about me. I can do it! I will do it!_ I felt like I was burning with determination for a brief moment before gramps pulled me out of my thoughts.

"You space out a lot, lass." He said in amusement.

"Why do you call me lass?"

"Because you're not a lad." I crossed my arms and glared at him. I really shouldn't have expected anything but smartassery from him. "As I was saying, other than appearances, there are other ways to make yourself more appealing to people. If you learn certain skills that people enjoy, they'll be more likely to open up to you as well. Let me show you something." He stood up and motioned for me to follow him into a den that I rarely ever entered. Compared to the others rooms, there was minimal useless crap in this one. In fact, most of the room was emptied to make enough room for his grand piano.

"The piano?" I asked, looking at it in confusion. It was then that I noticed that, despite never hearing or seeing him play it, there wasn't any dust on it.

"That's right." He replied as he sat down in front of it and tapped one of the keys. "Music is something that many people enjoy. The snooty high class people that I tend to deal with apparently enjoy classical music and instruments like the piano and violin. I'm not sure if they actually like it because they enjoy it, or simply because they think it makes them look classier. Either way, knowing how to play the piano made it easier for me establish contacts with people I probably wouldn't have associated with otherwise."

He wiggled his fingers a bit as if to loosen them up before he began playing the piano. I had to admit that the music was…beautiful. I was captivated by the sound and the skill needed to play it. I didn't know what piece he was playing at the time, but I knew he picked a difficult one just to prove his point. When he finished playing, I found myself clapping my hands like an idiot. "That was incredible! Can you teach me to play like that?" I was clearly excited.

"Hmm…" The old fart stroked his beard as if he was really considering whether or not he wanted to teach me. "I suppose I could, but it won't really benefit you much."

"There doesn't have to be a benefit to learning something new. Maybe learning it is a benefit itself." I crossed my arms and frowned at him when he laughed at me _again_. He probably knew that was how I would reply. "You're mocking me, aren't you? You darn old fart." He looked hurt for a moment, and then roared with laughter. I'll never understand that old codger.

"You caught me." He said as he slid over in his seat and pats the space next to him. "Come on. I'll teach you, but I'm not the nicest teacher." _Nope, but you're probably the craziest. Oh, but one more thing._

"You realize that we're covered in dust, and now it's all over the piano, right?"

"Oh, crap."

* * *

><p><strong>Second Grade<strong>

It was an understatement when he said he was strict. He was downright terrifying, but it was thanks to his scary lessons that I was able to learn pretty quickly. He spent most of his free time that summer teaching me the piano when we weren't packing. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best idea since we would forget to go back to packing after the lessons. As a result of those piano lessons, we were late moving into his new home and I started second grade a week late. It normally wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but being a late transfer student meant that I would have to introduce myself in front of the class a week after everyone else had already introduced themselves to each other.

I knew that this could suck if I messed up and made myself look like an idiot. It could get even worse because, apparently, gramps said it was some private elementary school. I didn't even know those existed, and I still doubt it after going to one. Apparently, it's one of those uppity high-class schools for the brats of uppity high class families, according to gramps. Naturally, I pointed out that this would mean that he was one of those uppity high-class people, to which he replied by calling me an uppity high-class brat. Go figure.

Anyway, it put some pressure on me to make sure I did it right, even more so when it could turn out to be greatly beneficial for me. If I did this right on the first go in front of everyone, I could draw them all in at once instead of in small groups and being all awkward about it. Plus, it was only second grade in an elementary school, so making friends from the get go would keep people close to me for at least four years until I transferred to a middle school. Failing would obviously put me in a socially awkward position that would most likely prevent me from making any friends in those four years. No pressure, right?

_The wait is so stressful!_ I screamed in my head as I sat quietly outside the classroom. _I'm too young for my hair to be turning white!_ I was growing impatient as the teacher muttered off some morning speech or something I had no interest in. Eventually, the teacher finally called me in. I had to quickly shake off my nervousness so I took a few deep breaths to compose myself. After doing so, I walked in calmly and faced the class with an emotionless stare.

"My name is Nagisa Aoi." I broke the stoic face with a cheerful grin and pumped my fist in the air. "Let's have lots of fun together!" I said with unnecessary enthusiasm, receiving a few giggles from a few girls in the class.

"Have fun how?" A boy with short black hair asked out loud.

"How else? With something spontaneous and exciting like the wonderful world of…uh…" I looked around the room, and then shrugged. "Math?"

"Great!" The boy rose as if he was suddenly struck with the same enthusiasm I was pretending to have. "After that, we can indulge ourselves in something even better like literature, right?"

"Woah woah woah!" I held up my hands defensively. "We wouldn't want to have too much fun, now would we? We _are_ in a school, after all. We should do something dull like dodge ball in between math and literature or the excitement might be too much for us to handle." Although the other kids seemed to be enjoying our pointless exchange, I could swear I heard the teacher mumble something along the lines of 'oh great, another one'.

"Kaito, sit down." The teacher spoke up, rolling his eyes. "Nagisa, you can take the seat next to Kaito. Try not to disrupt the class with your little comedy skits."

"Right…" _It's not like we planned that in advanced. Well, thanks to him, getting along with my classmates just got that much easier. All praise the class clown._

Kaito remained standing until I reached the desk next to him. He held out his hand to shake as he introduced himself. "I'm Kaito. I bet we're going to have a lot of fun this year!"

I was about to reach out and shake his hand, but stopped when I saw a metal ring going around his middle finger. "I would really like to agree, but I know you have one of those shockers in your hand."

Kaito blushed in frustration and quickly put it away before the teacher could see it. "Ha ha! Kaito has met his match~!" A girl in the back teased. This caused the boy to grin.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. This is gonna be a fun year!" He said out loud.

"Kaito Izawa, sit down! Class is starting!" The teacher shouted, flicking a piece of chalk at him. I watched the chalk bounce off his head as I looked at the boy. This kid quickly became my best friend in elementary and through middle school.

Kaito Izawa, the boy that brought me out of my loneliness only to drag me through hell.

* * *

><p>The next few days were… wonderful and uplifting, I think. Making friends was much easier this time around, and I was quickly able to establish some sort of childish social circle within the classroom. The boys were easier to get along with, especially those that were friends with Kaito. All I had to do was joke around with them like a bunch of immature idiots and we got along just fine. The girls were a bit tougher to get along with since I was still a tomboy at heart, but I listened in on the things that they liked and looked up that stuff later on. From that point, it was just mindless girl talk with them and stupid jokes and sports with the guys. Things had finally turned around. I had friends. I wasn't alone.<p>

"Have you joined any clubs or sport teams?" Kaito asked me at the end of class one day while we were heading to our lockers.

"Huh? No, not yet. Some classmates were asking me about it during lunch, but I haven't really heard about anything I'd enjoy. Is there a dodge ball team? That would be super fun." _What better sport for children to play other than the one where we bean each other in the head with large rubber balls?_

"Nope." He frowned. "Some parents complained about it being too violent and the teachers won't let us start a new one. Trust me, I've already tried."

"Bummer. So what club are you in? Is it soccer? Perhaps it's basketball? Oh, I know! You're in the chess club, right?"

Kaito responded with laughter. "No way! I don't have enough patience for a game like chess." He replied with an undeserved sense of pride.

"That's not something to brag about." I replied, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

He shrugged innocently. "Anyway, I'm actually in the tennis club, miss smarty pants." He glared at me when all I could give him was a look of disbelief. "What? It's fun to run around, and it's like a one-on-one duel with my opponent." _What about doubles?_ "You gotta check it out!" He pulled two tennis rackets out of his locker and thrust one into my arms. _He had to have planned this ahead of time. Oh well._ I didn't know how to play tennis, but I remembered my grandfather's words:

"…_other than appearances, there are other ways to make yourself more appealing to people. If you learn certain skills that people enjoy, they'll be more likely to open up to you as well."_

I sighed a little and smiled. "Alright. I'll give a shot. Just don't get mad at me if I hit you with the ball…or the racket…or both, somehow." I answered. He didn't seem worried and only replied with an over-excited 'Wahoo!'

Tennis was fun, but we lost horribly thanks to me not really knowing how to play or being any good at it. I did hit Kaito in the back of the head when it was my serve, which was way more satisfying than winning. "I told you _not_ to hit me when you served it!" He whined, rubbing his head.

"In my defense, the entire time I was thinking 'There's no way I can actually hit his head'."

"I'd forgive you if you weren't grinning so much."

"I'll stop grinning when it stops being funny. Besides, I only hit you by accident. You're the one that chased that other kid away for laughing at you." I pointed out. He didn't seem angry when he got hit, but he quickly lost his temper when some other kid laughed at him. He seemed pretty laid back most of the time, but he has a frighteningly short fuse at times.

As we passed through the auditorium on our way back inside, I stopped and pointed at the stage. "What are they doing?" On stage, there were five older students and a teacher I didn't recognize rummaging through boxes of what appeared to be props.

"Eh?" Kaito looked at me, then up at the stage with a bored expression. "Oh. That's just the theater club. It's not a very popular club and they barely keep the minimum number of required members each year. I feel kind of bad for the teacher in charge. I heard that he writes good plays, but even then, their performance at the end of the year stinks. I don't think they got any new members this year." He shrugged. "Plays are boring so it's not that surprising."

"That's not true!" I said with sudden enthusiasm that caught us both off guard. "It's true that there are some plays that are boring, or the actors can't bring out the right mood of a play, but if it's done right, it can be more captivating than your favorite tv show!" When I realized how loud I had said that, I looked around and saw that the kids on stage were looking at me while Kaito was trying not to laugh at my embarrassment…and failing. "Don't laugh at me! I'm serious!" I whined, making him laugh more. "Grr…"

A tall blond-haired boy walked to the edge of the stage and looked down at us. "If you like theater so much, why don't you join us?" He offered. It was a really tempting offer, but I had my doubts. _How would others feel about me if I joined an unpopular club like this one? Sure, I could develop a small group of friends within the club, but they all looked to be in fourth or fifth grade, so that friendship wouldn't last as long as friendship with my classmates._ Despite that, I really loved acting and it was hard to turn down.

I faced Kaito with a confident grin. "Let's do it. I'll prove to you that theater can be fun."

"Hmm…I don't know." He looked up on the stage. "Will there be any super epic sword fights? Like a knight trying to protect a princess?"

The teacher had one hand on his hip and the other on his chin. "Sword fights? Knights and a princess?" He looked like he was really lost in thought. "Yes. That should be possible. Yes, indeed." He nodded his head, apparently talking to himself.

"Then I'm in!" Kaito pumped a fist in the air.

"Just don't chase anyone with the sword if they laugh at you when you lose." I commented with a sly grin.

He blushed and looked away. "Shaddup."

* * *

><p>We spent the remainder of the year with the theater club without telling anyone. I had no reason to tell anyone, and Kaito was probably too embarrassed to admit it. The teacher in charge had written a somewhat original play to match Kaito's request. It was a story about two knights who have both fallen in love with the princess they protect, but the princess was to marry a prince of another land. It seemed like a generic plot, but I couldn't call him out on it since I had never heard it before. We rehearsed after school in order to prepare for the play we would be putting on at the end of the school year. The teacher seemed stressed out about it. If we didn't get any new members interested after the play, the club would most likely disband next year. Kaito and I were the only ones that weren't graduating this year, and if it wasn't good, he wouldn't be interested enough to come back next year either. It'd be pretty sad to have a theater club with one member, right?<p>

The year seemed to pass by quickly and the day of the performance had arrived.

"Wah…it's so crowded." I commented as I looked out at the crowd from behind the curtain.

"Stage fright?" The blond boy asked me, looking over my shoulder at the crowd as well.

"Not at all. I'm more pumped than ever!" Kaito and I were given the role of the two knights. I was a bit surprised that I was a knight as well, but I guess the teacher saw that I was tomboyish.

We got into our positions as the vice-principle introduced the theater club and the crowd gave an unenthusiastic round of applause. The first few scenes were rather uninteresting to us because Kaito and I had few lines. The beginning focused mainly on the princess and prince and slowly revealed the prince's evil intentions. Soon enough, Kaito and I had a scene alone.

"You are in love with the princess?" I asked, looking over my shoulder to Kaito, who was doing the same since we had our backs to each other.

"Yeah. So what if I am?" He replied.

I laughed. "How foolish. The princess would never love someone like you."

"Tch. You think someone arrogant like you has a chance with her?"

I turned to face him, grinning and speaking with confidence. "A better shot than a certain foolish pervert."

He turned around and pointed his wooden sword at me. "Who are you calling a pervert?"

"The fool that does not realize that he admitted to being a fool." I pointed my wooden sword at him as well. He growled under his breath and charged at me. For the first twenty seconds, we followed the choreography for the sword fight, but we both ended up getting into it and fought for over a minute. I eventually lost my balance and he knocked the sword out of my hand.

"Any last words?" He asked as he pointed the tip of his sword close to my neck.

I grinned. "Yeah, just three." I replied before running off stage.

"Huh?" He watched me run off with a dumbfounded look for a moment. He looked like he was trying to process what just happened and eventually silently counted to three with his fingers. "HEY!" He shouted. "You dare to make a fool out of me? Come back here, coward!" He then ran off stage after me to end the scene. I could see him smiling as he ran off stage. He was having fun.

I'm not sure if it was that scene, or the scene near the end that made him really enjoy theater. The story ended with my character pushing him out of the way and getting struck down by the prince. After a dramatic death scene, he goes off to fight the prince with my sword and save the princess. Then there's the mushy ending that he wasn't too fond of, but the audience was. When the play ended, we were given real applause. The following year, the theater club had over twenty members, including Kaito and me.

* * *

><p><strong>Middle School<strong>

Getting along with others became more difficult in middle school. Despite the school being affiliated with the elementary school we transferred from, maintaining the friendships I had only got tougher. Even though we've mostly been in the same classes for years, everyone seemed to be changing around me. Friendships, especially between a boy and girl, seemed more fragile. The guys mostly hung out together while the girls hung out with girls. A tomboy like me was a bit out of place in both circles. It wasn't like in the previous school where the boys would joke about the girls having cooties and avoid them for some stupid reason. It seemed more like everyone was nervous and awkward around the opposite gender. It was kind of amusing.

The boys were really weird to get along with, for the most part. Other than those in the school's theater club, they seemed to act weird when we weren't playing a sport. It felt like they would look at me when I wasn't looking, then look away when I turned towards them. It was a strange feeling. Besides that, it was pretty much the same old joking around.

The girls were…more fickle to deal with. Keeping up with social trends was annoying enough, but now I've started to notice that they excluded certain people from their social group. The most notable and obvious thing they judged people on was their appearance. I hate shit like that, but I was too afraid that I would alienate myself if I were to say it. I wasn't too worried about my appearance, and the girls seemed to like my hair after letting it grow over the summer. Even so, I was still worried when girls that probably weighed less than me were talking about dieting. It didn't make any sense to me, but I went along with it regardless. To maintain my figure or whatever the hell they were talking about, I 'joined' the track team in the mornings and ran with them. They didn't seem to mind since they weren't a competitive team.

The other thing they judged people on was intelligence. The group I was in mostly consisted of girls who hardly studied, crammed the night before, and maintained about a B average. They ignored people who had a C average or below, which was rather rare in this kind of school. They also excluded smart, straight A students and even mocked them behind their backs. Those people studied to get those grades, and these girls treated them like _they_ were the ones who were arrogant for getting good marks. I hated it, but I never said anything. I wasn't an idiot, but I wasn't very smart either. I studied my ass off every night, not to be the best, but to make the right grades. I studied to the point where I not only knew the right answers, but I knew which ones to get wrong in order to keep my grade within the same range as the girls I hung out with.

It gave me a very strange feeling to work so hard to manipulate how others saw me. It was a bit disturbing, really. I don't know if it ever occurred to me that I was probably making friends with the wrong people. If I was going to study that hard, why didn't I hang out with the other students that were on that level? I should have realized that the types of people that I hung out with were the ones that were most likely to betray me. I was too afraid of being alone to really stop and look at what kind of people I was associating with.

Kaito was still my best friend at this time, and it was a bit of a relief that he never acted differently towards me. He didn't give me awkward stares and he treated me the same as always. Of course, something eventually had to come up that fucked this over. In eighth grade, our theater club performed Romeo & Juliet, where I played Juliet and he played Romeo. I'm sure you know what happened that screwed things over. When two young teenagers kiss, even if it's just during a play, people will start talking about it. Rumors formed about the two of us, and even though I denied them and laughed them off, the rumors didn't die. Those rumors followed us to high school where everything crumbled around me.

* * *

><p><strong>Ninth Grade<strong>

The rumors followed us into the affiliated high school, and things between Kaito and me were becoming awkward. I don't know if it was because I stopped cutting my hair, or if it was that stupid kiss, but he was acting like he just now realized I was a girl. He had developed that same not-so-subtle awkwardness that the other boys had. At the time, I couldn't understand why. It was just a kiss for a play, right? We were acting, so why would that change anything? I was ignorant.

"So are you two really not going out?" Another annoying question that has been asked far too many times. I was hoping they would have forgotten over the summer, but that would have been too much to ask for.

"We're not." I replied, hiding my annoyance.

"Why not?" One of the girls in our little circle asked. "He's totally hot!" Some of the other girls nodded in agreement. _Sure, I wouldn't call him ugly, but what does that have to do with anything? Is it really okay to go out with someone just because of their appearance? Just what does 'love' mean to these girls?_ "You two have already kissed, right? People usually do that after they start going out, ya know." _It's kind of funny considering that five years ago, these girls thought he was just a clown. Oh how times have changed._

"It was for a play. There wasn't anything more to it than that." The girls gave me looks that clearly said they didn't believe me. "I'm serious."

"You two are always together anyway, aren't you?" Another girl spoke up. "You should definitely ask him out." _We've been best friends for years. There haven't been any problems up until now, so why should things suddenly change?_ "Don't you want a boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend?" The thought of dating or having a boyfriend had never crossed my mind before. I could speculate what love meant to them, but what did it mean to me? I had never thought about it before. What is love? Is it something more than a best friend? Is it just hugging and kissing and all sorts of perverted shenanigans? I wanted to believe that was wrong. I wanted to think that love was a bond that was stronger than friendship. A lover is someone that will always be by your side, right? Thinking about it like that, it sounded nice. I don't know what it's like to be in love, but going out with someone might help me figure it out. "Maybe." I answered absentmindedly. The girls around me got excited by my response and started talking among themselves about Kaito and me as a couple. I sighed. _Is it really something to be excited about?_

The next few days were wasted on discussion about the best situation for me to 'confess my feelings' to Kaito. I wanted to speak up and say I didn't have that kind of feeling, but I never did. I silently went along with their planning, giving minimal responses. All their planning went to waste a week later when Kaito approached us.

"Hey, Nagisa." Kaito spoke up, looking a bit tense while trying to avoid eye contact. "Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you about something." I could hear the girls whispering among themselves, saying things like 'He's making the first move!' and other nonsense.

"Well, we were going to-" One of the girls pushed me forward.

"Nope! She's not busy at all~" Another girl spoke up in a singsong voice. I looked back at them, and they all shooed me in unison.

"Sigh…I guess I'm not busy at all." I shrugged.

"Great!" He grinned. "Could you come with me?" I nodded and followed him, ignoring the sarcastic cheering from my friends. _It's not like he actually wants to talk about _that_. I'm sure it's just about the theater club or something._

He led me into an empty classroom and I actually felt a bit nervous. _No way. I've seen this in anime before, but this is reality. Is he really going to confess?_

"I suddenly feel a bit nervous." Kaito rubbed his head while looking out the window. After a moment, he nodded his head as if confirming something. He turned to face me, dropping the joking tone and looking at me seriously. "I know this is a bit sudden, but I'll get straight to the point. Nagisa, will you go out with me?"

"Eh?" The sound escaped my lips before I could process it. "Go out?" I could see he was getting nervous, but part of me couldn't believe that this was actually happening. "As in like…dating? Boyfriend and girlfriend going out?" I was stammering like an idiot, caught completely off guard. He nodded.

"Yes. I know I've been avoiding you lately, but I've been trying to figure out how I really feel." He pushed back his nervousness with determination. "I've realized that I've fallen in love with you, Nagisa. Please, go out with me."

I didn't know what to say. No matter what I answered, everything between us would change. If I said yes, we would go out; if I said no, our friendship would break apart. I wish I wasn't such a coward. It would have been so much better if I had told him that he was wrong – that the person he fell in love with is a fake. I was afraid of losing a friend, and in the end, I took the coward's way out.

"Yes, let's go out." I answered with an insincere smile, sentencing us to our fate.

At first, everything seemed to be just fine. In fact, things were pretty good. We hung out more like we used to do; rehearsing in theater club, goofing off in the afternoon, and hanging out on the weekend, even though it was now called a 'date' rather than hanging out. The only real difference was kissing, but I never really felt anything when we did it. In retrospect, it was probably a bad thing that I didn't feel anything. I really am a fool.

Over time, I noticed that the behavior of those around me began to change. The girls that I called friends seemed to be distancing themselves from me. At first, I thought they were just trying to get me to spend my time with Kaito instead of them, but I later realized that they were just trying to exclude me. I don't know what kind of vibe they were giving off – it might have been disdain? Perhaps it was contempt, or even jealousy. Kaito was pretty popular among our grade while I was only playing the role of an average girl.

Over the year, Kaito's behavior began to change as well. His fuse seemed to have shortened. He was quick to snap at people when he used to have some form of control and suppress it. I thought he might be stressed, but whenever I asked him about it, he'd say "It's nothing." If I tried to push the issue, he'd just shout at me, so the topic never went anywhere.

He also became more controlling and tried to push our relationship further. Every time he tried, I would tell him I wasn't ready for that or say we were too young for that kind of thing. After that, we would get into an argument that ended with him leaving and me being alone. At the time, I didn't know why things were going this way, but I eventually figured it out. I wasn't in love with him, and I never once said I was. I think he figured that out along the way and thought I would eventually leave him.

Our relationship became shaky during the spring and we spent less time with each other. He spent most of his time with his buddies, while I wasted my time alone. I had been outcasted by me 'friends'. I heard them gossiping among themselves, talking about how I was bringing Kaito down and that I was arrogant for going out with someone so popular that was too good for me. Backstabbing bitches. They were the one that pushed me towards him. I didn't let it show, but I was hurt. I knew it was inevitable; our friendship was built on nothing but lies made by both sides. Even so, it was still painful. I was suddenly alone again. I was still a freshman, so I didn't have any strong ties to the members of the theater club or the track team.

All I had left was Kaito, but when May rolled around, I lost him and so much more.

* * *

><p>"May is such a depressing month." Kaito leaned back in the chair, twirling a pencil lazily between his fingers. It was Sunday, but instead of going out, we were studying at my house. He had also brought two of his friends over that needed help studying as well. I didn't really mind, and I was worried that he would get mad if I protested.<p>

"How so?" I asked, trying to spin the pencil in my hand but ended up flinging it across the table. _It's witchcraft._

"How else? Club activities end and prepping for final exams begins. It's a pain. The play sucked this year as well. We only got minor roles." He complained.

"It can't be helped." I shrugged. "We're freshmen, after all. A few sophomores didn't even get to be in the club. I bet they were totally jealous of you."

He smiled proudly. "Well I am pretty amazing, after all."

"Of course you are. Now, Mr. Amazing, could you please tell us normals what the answer to number six is?" One of his friends, I think his name was Chuck, asked.

"Geh." He looked away innocently.

"What do you know…" The other friend, Ted, put a hand over his mouth. "He's normal, just like us. How shocking."

"How tragic! My secret has been reve-woah!" He tried to strike a dramatic pose, but leaned too far back in his chair and fell over.

"Dumbass." Chuck said as he and Ted laughed.

I stood up and leaned over him. "Earth to Mr. Not-Really-Amazing, are you still with us?" I called out.

"Et tu, Nagisa?" He groaned, rubbing his head. I held my hand out and helped him up. He pretended to cry and put his arm over his eyes. "At least Nagisa still loves me."

"I couldn't imagine being with anyone else." I replied. For a brief moment, I saw Kaito's smile drop and he grit his teeth from behind his arm, but my attention was drawn away by Ted and Chuck snickering. "What? I thought it was a romantic thing to say." I pretended to pout and cross my arms, trying to hide my worry. _Does he know?_

About an hour later, I went up to my bedroom to find some notes. I wasn't up there long before the sound of people walking up the stairs caught my attention. When I turned to my door, only Kaito had come into the room. "You guys could have waited downstairs. It won't take me long to find it."

He smiled. "It's only me." I'd be a fool to believe that after hearing all those footsteps, but I didn't know why he was lying. He walked up to me and lifted my chin, then pressed his lips against mine. Something felt very wrong, but once again, I was a fool and did nothing. I could feel him pushing my back as we kissed. Before I could figure out why, I felt my legs hit the side of the bed, causing them to buckle and make me fall backwards onto the bed.

"Kaito, what are you-?" My voice trailed off when I looked up at him, standing over me and looking me straight in the eye with an expression I couldn't read.

"Do you really love me?" He asked suddenly. I felt my throat go dry. I didn't know how to respond to that, especially not in this kind of situation. I didn't answer; I couldn't answer. What was I supposed to say? I didn't know. I thought I would find out what love was by being with him, but nothing ever changed. "Tch. So…you don't." Silence was the worst answer I could have given him. One-by-one, my mistakes continued to build up to this moment, where I made yet another mistake.

"Agh!" I screamed in pain and covered my face when he suddenly pulled my shades off. I heard the cracking sound of what I assume was him smashing it in his hand. He then pinned me down at my shoulders.

"I really liked you. Was I not good enough for you? Were you dating me out of pity? What's your deal? Do you hate me?" He didn't shout, but there was definitely venom in his voice.

"It wasn't like that! I just-" He cut me off by forcing my eyelids apart with his fingers.

"Why won't you look at me and say that?" He shouted. I screamed in pain as the light was suddenly forced in my vision. I flailed around, and with my free hand, I struck him across the face. I immediately closed my eye when he backed up and covered my face again. "Damn you…" He growled under his breath. I backed away slightly, but it was useless without being able to see him. I felt him grab my arm tightly with both hands, followed by hearing a sickening cracking sound as he broke my arm. I cried out in pain, but it was interrupted when his fist struck the side of my face. He climbed on top of me, pinning one arm under his knee and the other with one hand. I screamed for him to stop, but it was futile. He struck me repeatedly until I stopped squirming around.

I could hear the footsteps of two other people walking in by the time he finally got off of me. "Damn, you really fucked her up. She had such a pretty face too." It was Ted, which meant Chuck was probably with him. "The rest of the house is empty." They had been looking for gramps. This was all planned from the start. No matter what I did, the result would have been the same. I was doomed the moment I let them in.

The two distant figures walked up to me on both sides and pulled me up, holding me by my arms to keep me from escaping. "Shit, man. You broke her arm too? Well, whatever." Realization dawned on me when a hand grabbed on to my skirt.

"N-no way. S-stop!" I pleaded, trying desperately to escape once I knew what they were planning to do. I felt the grip on my broken arm loosen for only a moment before a strong force impacted my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I went limp in their arms. It was helpless. No matter what I did, I couldn't escape. All three of them are stronger than me, my arm is broken, and I'm blind. There was no hope for me. No one would be coming to my rescue.

I could feel the breeze from the air conditioner against my skin. I had been stripped without even realizing it. Fear and panic kicked in and I tried desperately to escape, yet once again, another punch forced me to stop. I had never felt so weak before, but it was only the beginning. I prayed with all my heart that someone – anyone – would come to my rescue.

Miracles don't exist.

My legs were spread apart and I could feel someone standing between them. I'm sure you can imagine what happens next. It was painful. I felt like I was worse that shit and all I could do was cry while Kaito raped me. When he finished, I thought – so desperately prayed – that it was over.

Like I said, miracles don't exist.

All three of them raped me. Not just once, and not just the same place. They went for my mouth and ass as well. They each took turns, swapping holes repeatedly. The only form of resistance I could do was to bite down as hard as I could on the first one to put it in my mouth. With my luck, of course it had to be Kaito. They punched me repeatedly until my grip loosened. Once it did, they threw me to the ground and all three of them stomped on me. I was in so much pain at this point that I could barely register that I was still conscious.

I had given up. No matter what I did, it was pointless. Any form of resistance I put up only resulted in more pain. I hated every minute of it and I wished they had just killed me instead. I didn't want to suffer. They eventually finished with me and tossed me back on the floor, laughing as they left. I don't know how long I was there, but they eventually came back. They picked me up and dragged me into the bathroom, then dropped me in the shower and turned it on. I didn't know what was going on until I felt something sharp slide against my wrist. Those bastards were trying to wash away the evidence and make it look like I was attempting suicide. I was too weak to resist, so they just left me there. I eventually lost consciousness. I wish I could say this was the end. I really wish it would have all been over here.

* * *

><p>Life is cruel.<p>

I eventually woke up in the hospital. I always hated these white walls. Hospitals remind me of nothing but sorrow. I was in a bit of a daze and felt rather lightheaded, most likely from painkillers and whatever else they injected me with. I finally registered that I was wearing a new pair of shades. I looked around the room and, as I thought, my grandfather was there. I thought he had been asleep due to the silence, but he was awake when I saw him.

_Of course he would be silent. What would you say if you found out that your granddaughter was worthless trash like me?_ I hated myself. All the wrong decisions I made had caused this to happen. I believe there's a word for this…

Karma.

_I was a horrible person, so it's only naturally something horrible would be done to me. I manipulated everyone and everything. I tried to control the entire world around me for my own convenience. I made friends through deception. I did everything I could to gather others around me, but in the end, I'm more alone than ever before. This is the fate most suitable for a bitch like me. He was my best friend and I pretended to go out with him because I was too stupid to say no. I couldn't fess up, and every time that it mattered, I bit my tongue and remained silent. The world isn't scripted. People won't dance to the tune I play. I'm a fool._

"Nagisa…" My grandfather spoke up, pulling me out of my self-loathing. "What happened?" He was angry. "Who did this to you?" Surprisingly, his anger wasn't directed at me. Either way, I didn't answer. _It's my fault._ He wouldn't accept that answer, so I couldn't give him one. Once again, I was being a fool and sticking to silence.

The conversation ended there when the doctor came in. He said something about having test results, but that didn't really make sense. He wasn't holding any x-rays. It must have been the painkillers, because I started to space out and their conversation went over my head.

I woke up again the next day. "Shouldn't you be at work?" Was the first thing I said to gramps. I didn't want him there. I didn't want anyone to see me like this.

"Like hell I could just leave my granddaughter like this." He sounded like he had forced himself to calm down. He sighed. "I said that I would look after you, but I've done a horrible job of it, haven't I?" He said, more of a statement rather than a question.

"That's not true. Everything that has gone wrong, all the stupid mistakes that led up to this moment, they solely were my fault. My selfishness, fear, and stupidity have brought this upon me. There's no one to blame for this except me." I replied, looking down at the cast on my arm.

"I don't believe that. There's nothing anyone can do to deserve being beaten and raped." He mumbled. I froze.

"How…why do you know that?" I asked hesitantly.

"We found it…in your room. Your torn clothes, semen, and signs of a struggle." He answered, not looking at me.

"We? You and who else?"

"The police. They've already arrested the suspects. Kaito used to be such a good kid." _He was and he might still be if he hadn't met me._ "There's still more. They did more to you than you know. Nagisa…" His expression was grim.

"You're pregnant."

_Fuck this world._

* * *

><p><strong>Summer; Age 15<strong>

While I was still in the hospital, my grandfather had withdrawn me from school when the semester had ended. My grades were high enough to pass the semester despite missing the finals, but that didn't really matter to me anymore. He had gone on one of his rants about how unreliable the school system was, probably because I used to find them entertaining, but I had mostly tuned it out.

Kaito, Ted, and Chuck were arrested while I was unconscious. Ted and Chuck denied it from the start, and eventually changed their story to saying that I had wanted it to happen. What a load of shit. Who would want to go through this? Kaito remained mostly silent throughout the whole thing. He didn't resist arrest and he didn't deny anything; he just remained silent. Eventually, when he was taken to trial, he admitted the whole thing. He had gone to Ted and Chuck and told them that he thought I wasn't in love with him. They had convinced him that I was just using him and that I should be punished if I didn't really love him. In the end, it was my fault. I should have rejected him. I should have told him that I didn't know anything about love. He would go to prison because he got involved with the wrong girl – me.

Near the end of my stay in the hospital, gramps asked me a question he seemed to be hesitating with. Eventually, he was able to ask me if I wanted to get an abortion. I couldn't do it. It felt so wrong. My selfishness had caused all this, so was it really right to continue to be selfish? I couldn't let an unborn baby die because of my selfish stupidity. I decided that I would go through with having the baby, and I sincerely hoped that I could raise him or her to have a better life than I did.

Things around me changed when I was released. My grandfather retired from his company. He claimed that he was just sick of dealing with suits, but I knew it was because of me, and that only added to the guilt I was feeling. _How many lives am I going to ruin?_

When I returned home, I found that my cell phone had dozens of texts and missed calls. The most common ones seemed to be "Slut", "Whore", and "Disgusting". It pissed me off. I eventually lost it and smashed the phone against the wall. Those people didn't care about my side of the story at all. They immediately concluded that I was the one that was wrong. Wasn't I a victim in this? Why was I the one being hated? _Because it's my fault._

My behavior changed over the summer. I no longer tried to make friends with anyone. It wasn't that I didn't care if I was alone anymore; rather, I was scared of people, especially males. I didn't talk to females at all, but when I was near a male, I subconsciously backed away from them. Every male I saw started to look like Kaito. I didn't trust anyone. I didn't want to end up in another hopeless situation.

I had nightmares every night. I would relive that day in my dreams until I eventually woke up screaming. I had gone to counseling over it, but that was pointless. Where's the comfort in people I don't know trying to help me because they're being paid to do so? In the end, their efforts were fruitless and the nightmares never went away.

Gramps had talked me into taking a class for first-time parents. I was reluctant at first, but if I was serious about raising a kid, it was something I had to do. Being in that class made me realize how different I was from everyone else. I was only a few months in, so it wasn't really noticeable that I was pregnant, but the rest of the women looked like they were at least five months in. Not only that, every woman had someone there with them. I couldn't say if they were boyfriends or husbands, but I was the only one in that class alone. There were couples in their twenties and thirties, while I was the single teenager. I felt out of place. This wasn't somewhere I belonged. Then again, there wasn't anywhere I belonged, was there?

After one of the classes, a few couples came up to talk to me. I had to fight back the urge to run away. I had avoided extended interaction with people until now, but now I found myself surrounded. One of the women asked me why I was taking this class. It seemed they really couldn't tell if I was actually pregnant or not, so I played it off. I told them I wanted to be a mother one day and that it seemed good to learn about these things early. It happened before I realized it, but lying was something that became easy for me to do. I took that chance to ask them about how they fell in love, but they're answers were vague or beyond my understanding, preventing me from getting any closer to finding out what it meant. They were nice people, but they were probably being nice because they weren't talking to the real me.

The real me…I wonder if there is such a person.

* * *

><p><strong>Winter; Age 15<strong>

Life is unbelievably cruel.

Despite the circumstances, the build up until now kind of had me looking forward to having a kid. Maybe that's why reality had to kick in and take that away from me. I was about eight months into the pregnancy when _complications_ occurred. That's a severe understatement. The baby…died in the womb. I didn't listen to their explanation about why it happened. It didn't matter _why_ it happened. I was too far into the pregnancy to abort it now, so I ended up having to give birth to a dead fetus – a stillbirth, I think.

_I failed._ It seemed like I was really incapable of doing anything right. I didn't even feel like a woman anymore. I wanted to give that child a shot at life, but I failed completely. _I'm the worst._ I didn't go to school; I didn't have any friends; I didn't have a job; I didn't have anything that would interfere with me just being a parent, but I couldn't even do that right. How the hell do I manage to fuck up everything I do?

They kept me in the hospital until I delivered the fetus. They most likely kept me there as some sort of suicide watch. I silently drowned myself in self-loathing and hate, before and after the delivery. Why did this happen? Why does everything turn against me? Am I never allowed to be happy? Wouldn't it be better if I just disappeared? My existence is nothing but a burden to those around me. How much more will other people suffer because of me? How many friendships were ruined because I was there? How many futures ended because of my interference? How could I go on living, knowing that an unborn child's life was stolen because of my incompetence? It was so obvious by now. I didn't deserve life. Reality kept bringing me down because it was telling me that I should be dead.

My death was ten years overdue.

When I was released from the hospital, those thoughts plagued my mind. I waited in silence for my chance to end it. One day, gramps finally left me alone in the house. You probably noticed it, didn't you, Tamao? Tsubomi? The wrist that those boys cut wasn't the one I showed you. The scar I showed you two was from my actual suicide attempt.

I had looked it up online – why people who slashed their wrists submerged that arm in the bathtub. It turns out that hot water does something scientific that I forgot that makes the blood drain faster, I think. I don't really remember, but either way, that's what I did. I filled the bathtub with hot water, took some sleeping pills, then cut my wrist as deep as I could with a knife and kept it in the water until I passed out.

I had planned everything out to ensure that I would die, but once again, I woke up in the hospital. I cursed myself repeatedly. How incompetent could I be that I can't even die properly? Is there really nothing that I can do right? All I had to do was bleed to death, and I couldn't even do that. _I'm so fucking useless. _How much more of a burden could I be? Surely these nurses were tired of seeing me. Gramps had to be tired by now of putting up with all of my bullshit. I didn't deserve to live, yet reality just wasn't done toying with me, was it?

I was sent to rehab after I was released, but it was pointless. Their words meant nothing to me. I didn't want, need, or deserve their help. I never should have survived that accident. I never should have gone to America. I never should have tried to make friends. I never should have wanted to fall in love. I never should have tried to raise a child. I never should have existed. My existence is a sin – a plague that infects everyone around me and causes their lives to rot.

Even after I had given up, my grandfather was still there, trying to help me, and I didn't know why.

"You can't keep running away."

_If I can't run, I'll hide._

"You can't hide forever."

_Running and hiding are all I know how to do. _

"You have to grow up and face reality."

_Facing reality has only gotten me crushed._

"Move forward."

_I'll only be pulled back._

"Show the world who you truly are."

_I don't know who I am anymore. Which Nagisa is the real me?_

"The real Nagisa was always there, pretending to be the Nagisa she wanted to be. Don't call yourself a coward. Be that Nagisa that you want to be."

_All I can do is try._

"It's better than giving up."

We returned to Japan, and the rest is history.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes – After so many distractions and so much procrastination, I finally got back into writing again. You guys totally missed me, right?<strong>_

_**It's been so long since I started this that this chapter wasn't how I had originally intended it. I really wouldn't be surprised if there were contradictions with this chapter and previous chapters, but that's the price of not planning ahead. I think the biggest contradiction I found was the age thing. At one point, I'm sure I mentioned that Nagisa was a year older than everyone else and that she missed a year, but when I wrote this, it works out to where she would still join tenth grade in Japan when she should have, and the math makes her the same age as everyone else. I had also expected this chapter to be longer, but I also thought it would be about 20k words, which was probably unrealistic.**_

_**I really can't say much for the quality of this chapter because well, I've never written anything like this before. Then again, that's probably just an excuse since I've never written anything before this other than those oneshots. Well, I hope this didn't make anyone shout "Holy balls, this person can't write worth a damn!" cause that would make me sad. Maybe. Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if I got some hate for this chapter, but it's too late to worry about that now.**_

_**Also, if you're wondering why the early part didn't sound like children were talking, it's because I've never written children dialogue before so I don't know how. My excuse is that it's being told from a teenager's perspective of her own memories, so it's her interpretation of the conversations. Yeah, that sounds like a valid excuse. Let's go with that one. Don't believe those anime flashbacks where they remember everything perfectly from ten years ago. That's totally bologna. **_

**Artful Lounger – **_**Yeah, I can see that being pretty predictable. I wouldn't expect it to get too predictable in the future, since I haven't even planned anything out yet, and I haven't done much hinting for future chapters…I think. I can't remember anymore. While it's true that it seems like they've gotten close quickly, that's only if you're looking at it from the perspective of love. What I've noticed over the years, is that crushes can be formed and broken with little to no effort, especially in young girls around the age of those in SP. I wouldn't call it love, though love can come from a crush, but it can also result in nothing at all. **_

**Ctb – **_**Thanks for those messages to get me off my lazy arse. You'll have to keep guessing who will end up with who, cause I have absolutely no idea. Shock therapy seemed like the only realistic way to get her to spill the beans, so I just went with it.**_

**lord orion123 – **_**I don't think at all when I write :D Wait, that's not something to be proud of, is it? I really do need to proofread more…or better…or both. So how were your theories? Did you hit the bullseye, or were your theories better than the crap I spew?**_

**the cold raven – **_**Well, I am evil, after all. It's what I do.**_

**romancejunky **_**– I'm not sure if this is the type of chapter to 'look forward to', but here it is. I honestly have no idea how I made that connection. A wandering mind is a terrifying thing sometimes.**_

**TheNomade5 – **_**I prefer trollolol myself.**_

**Obsidian and Cobalt **_**– Nagisa and Tamao make a cute couple too. That was what this story was originally going to be, but then I changed my mind in chapter…three, I think. It could be the couple, but nothing is set in stone. I also added an annoyingly long wait to your cliffhanger to make you just go "HNNNNNG!" and get impatient.**_

**kaizer20 – **_**I don't think trauma is supposed to be awesome. I'm sure there's a lot of weird/funny words in there. Stop laughing at the angst! You're supposed to be tearing up or something!**_

**demando – **_**Yes, yuri is wonderful, isn't it?**_

**KittyAttack – **_**What a mess my writing is does has becoming of a part is of. Something like that. Feel the angst. Feeeel it.**_

**Joy – **_**I don't know why you feel you have to talk to me that way. As I said before, nothing is set in stone.**_

**ShadowBlade91821 – **_**You make some very valid points. At one time, however, the point of split wasn't actually the car accident, because Nagisa was originally supposed to be a year older than everyone else in this story. I had utterly screwed that up when I actually wrote her past, so the point of split was then changed to the car accident. Looking at it now, this makes her meeting with Yaya at age 5 a rather inconvenient plothole/contradiction. It's not completely unrealistic considering how little everyone's past is expanded on, but it does stretch the limit of believability. I thought it would be interesting to link some of the characters, but the way you see it is also a valid viewpoint. **_

_**As for the whole crush things, crushes are very easy to form. Like when you see a girl who likes a guy just because he's hot or good at a sport or something. That's a quickly formed crush that's built on a weak or non-existing bond. These things are pretty common, and they usually die down quickly if those crushes aren't built on. When someone with a crush spends time with the person they have a crush on, it's possible for a crush to be formed in the other direction, but once again, time will tell whether that crush dies away or becomes something more. The reason you don't see much build up of relationships between the others is because this story primarily focuses on Nagisa. What happens to the other characters may eventually have an impact on her, but they're not the focus of the story. Also, I can't write porn cause I can't even write fluff, so don't worry about that. **_

**IzkaMenomi – **_**Thanks! …though I'm not really sure what path it's on.**_


	14. Best Friends

**Grade 7/Year 1**

_I had worked hard for this day. Getting accepted into Miator was like a dream for me. A few of my friends had laughed at me for having that kind of ambition. I was a little hurt, but I honestly couldn't blame them for it. Astraea Hill is one of the most difficult schools to get into and Miator's academic requirements are certainly the toughest to meet. At times, it just seemed ridiculous. _

_Another reason that they laughed was that even if I managed to meet those requirements, the tuition rate for this school was…unbelievably high. It really did seem like one of those rich people schools, after all. My family wasn't poor, but we certainly didn't have the kind of wealthy background that most of the students in this school had. I wasn't selfish enough to force that kind of financial burden on my parents._

_Thanks to a certain incentive, I became even more motivated to achieve my goal. Students who earn and maintain exceptional marks are given free board and tuition while their marks remained high. It was the perfect opportunity for someone like me, who could never afford such a staggering tuition fee, to enroll. _

_I gave it everything I had and I eventually achieved my goal. I know it's an odd goal for a sixth grader to have, but I had been looking into this school for a while and I loved everything about it. The teachers and classes were excellent, the uniforms were so cute, but most of all, I was really looking forward to having a roommate and this was the only school around that had dorms._

_It's a very strange reason to work so hard to get into such a school just because of the dorms, but that was what initially motivated me to try. My parents were always working, and the house was always empty whenever I returned. I know they were working hard so we could have the best life possible, but it was lonely. I wanted to have a close friend. I wanted to be able to go back to my room and know that there was someone else there. Having something like that would make all of the effort worth it._

_On the first day, everything just seemed to be wonderful. The pretty uniform I received fit perfectly and everyone I met seemed so friendly. I could tell that I was going to enjoy my time here. All the excitement was building up and it made me look forward to meeting my roommate even more. _

_When I reached my room, I was definitely nervous. I bet my hand was shaking when I reached for the knob and opened the door. I had planned to greet my roommate with a cheerful smile, but to my disappointment, no one was inside. I sighed after having built up so much anxiety over nothing. I figured she was just late and decided to unpack my things while I waited. _

_I was about halfway done when realization finally dawned on me. I glanced over at the unoccupied side of the room. Most of my luggage was gathered on my side, but there wasn't a single suitcase on the other side._ Every piece of luggage in this room belongs to me._ It took me a minute to process the thought. Why wasn't there any other luggage here? Why had my roommate not shown up by now?_

_A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I quickly moved to the door and opened it, probably a bit too eager to see who it was. I couldn't help but frown when I saw that it was an older girl, possibly a fifth or sixth year, standing in front of me. _

"_You are Suzumi Tamao, correct?" She asked me, looking up from her clipboard. _

"_Y-yes." I wasn't sure why I was nervous. Did I get into some trouble already? "Can I help you?" Those probably weren't the best words I could have used. _

"_No, you're fine." She answered, looking back down at her clipboard. "I'm just checking to see if all of the new students have arrived yet. Good day." She turned to leave, but I called out to stop her._

"_Please wait! Um…" I looked back in my room. "I'm supposed to have a roommate, right? She hasn't shown up yet, and there isn't any luggage here that might belong to her." The woman raised her eyebrow in confusion and looked at her clipboard again._

"_Ah. There was another girl who was assigned to this room, but it seems she changed her mind about coming here. There aren't any other students who applied to stay in the dorms, so it looks like you'll have your own room this year. You're pretty lucky." She offered me a smile and I returned a weak one._

"_Yeah. Lucky me." I went back into my room and shut the door. I leaned against the door and tried not to laugh at how…stupid this situation turned out. I worked so hard to get here, and the thing that I wanted the most isn't even here. _

_For a while, I had hoped that someone would eventually transfer in, but as time went on, that hope began to fade away. I was told that people generally didn't transfer into this school, especially not after seventh grade. If they transferred in any later than that, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the curriculum, or so I was told. _

_I didn't want to believe it, but it seemed to be true. As the seniors graduated and more first years came in, the rooms were never in short supply to the point where an underclassman would have to room with me. There were no new transfer students, and by the end of my second year, I had given up hope on ever getting a roommate._

* * *

><p><strong>Grade 9Year 3**

_By the time I started my third year at Miator, I had accepted the fact that I wouldn't be getting a new roommate. It was depressing to admit, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. It's not like I was lonely or anything. I had made plenty of friends here, but it seemed like people tend to spend most of their time with their roommate. I found out that some roommates were even dating! I was a little jealous of people that were so close, but not too much. I wasn't even looking for anything intimate anyway. That was what I believed in the spring, but when summer came around, I actually developed a crush on someone…I think._

_I first met her during summer break. At the start of the break, I had gone home to visit my family. On the night following my return to the dorm, I met Yaya-chan._

_Our meeting occurred shortly after dinner. I was wandering aimlessly around the dorm with no reason or destination in mind. Perhaps that was a little redundant. Thinking back on it, that may have been my only way of procrastinating, or maybe I only wanted to put off returning to my room as much as I could._

_As I walked around, I stopped to look through the window that faced the center of the dorm. When I glanced down, I saw a girl standing by herself under the gazebo*. I couldn't quite tell from where I was standing, but it looked like she was talking to herself. I wondered what she was doing outside this late. Curiosity got the best of me and I ended up going outside to talk to her._

_After stepping outside, I immediately realized that she hadn't been talking to herself. I didn't know how else to describe this girl's singing other than…captivating. I stood frozen in place as I listened to her, completely entranced by her voice. Her singing must have taken me to another world for that brief moment because I didn't notice that she had stopped until she spoke up._

"_If you keep staring at me like that without speaking, I'm going to think I'm in one of those horror movies and run away screaming. Ah, but then I would get in trouble and that would be a pain. Facing a possessed girl or hearing the nun's lecture – I don't know which is worse." That certainly wasn't something I expected her to say. I don't know whether she was talking to herself or me, but I could already tell one thing for sure. _

This girl is strange.

"_Um…hello?" I wasn't really sure how to greet her and my sudden awkwardness just made me feel silly. _

"_Oh good, she speaks. Guess I won't have to run away screaming after all." She replied with a playful grin. _

"_Yes, screaming would be bad." I decided to play along, but I wasn't really sure how to talk to her. I don't think I've met anyone in this school that actually teased me before now. It seemed like something that should be a little more common, but it's surprising to realize that it hasn't happened in over two years. _

"_I could try frolicking, but that seems kind of pointless."_

_My confusion only grew as I spoke with her. "Was there ever a point to this?"_

"_Oh, crap! You're right!"_ Is she still messing with me? _She snickered at my confusion. "The girls here are so fun to tease."_ I knew it. _"So what are you doing out here?" She put a hand over her mouth as she suddenly gasped in surprise. "Could it be that you've come out here to confess your feelings? You're quite bold to confess under the moonlight like this, aren't you? It's just like out of a romance novel."_

"_I-wait, what?" I could feel my cheeks burning. "W-what are you talking about?"_

"_Haven't you heard the rumors about how couples rendezvous at the secret garden? That's this garden right here." She pointed down at the ground to emphasize her point._

"_EH?" I looked around frantically. "No, I-" I stopped and glared at her. "That's not funny! This isn't even a garden!" _

_What started as a soft chuckle grew into full out laughter after my response. "That's great! Nice reaction!" I crossed my arms and tried to frown, but her laughter was contagious. I should have felt like an idiot, but I couldn't help laughing with her. _

"_You're pretty strange." I said when we stopped laughing. "But then again, I guess I'm also strange for laughing at myself."_

"_I get that a lot." She leaned against one of the gazebo's columns. "I don't think I'm weird at all. I think everyone else is weird for having a weak sense of humor. I'm the only normal one here." She stopped and looked at me. "Well, I guess you're pretty normal. People should be able to laugh at themselves. Otherwise conversations would be stiff and boring."_

"_I kind of want to agree with you, but your logic is a little…" Although the entire thing was weird, the conversation also seemed unusually casual. I felt strangely comfortable talking to her, even if it didn't make much sense._

"_Sometimes it's just better to ignore things like logic or common sense." She replied with an indifferent shrug. _

"_Common sense exists for a reason."_

"_There you go again with your 'logic'."_ I can't keep up with this girl. _I sighed. _

"_You really are strange, aren't you?" I smiled a little when she frowned._

"_I think I'm supposed to be offended."_

"_Common sense and logic would dictate that you would be offended." _

"_Geh!" She put a hand over her face. "You got me." I didn't even understand this interaction between us, but I'm certain I was enjoying myself. I even felt a little pride from my victory in this strange game we were apparently playing._

"_So what brings you out here?" She asked after apparently having her fill of playing with me. "Are you sure you're not here to confess your unwavering love for me?"_

"_I'm not!"_ I guess she isn't done yet. _"I only met you three minutes ago." She was grinning again. Maybe the people in this school really were that easy to tease, or maybe she was just that good at it. I don't even know._

"_I came out here because I saw what looked like a girl talking to herself. I didn't anticipate that she would be singing." I continued to speak but she immediately had a quip._

"_And that was when you had become smitten by that girl's voice, right?"_ She's relentless!

"_Stop that!" If I wasn't blushing before, my face was certainly red now. _

_She put her hands on her cheeks and pretended to be embarrassed. "W-well, you're cute, but I think we should get to know each other better first."_ This girl isn't strange. She's just evil.

"_Knock it off!" I buried my face in my hands to hide my embarrassment. When she started laughing, I kept my hands over my face to hide my smile. I was having _fun _even though I probably looked like a fool. _

"_Anyway-" I had to shift this conversation quickly to save myself from further humiliation, though it seemed almost inevitable just by staying out here. "-you have a lovely singing voice. It's too bad that it comes from the same person that gets a laugh out of making girls feel stupid."_

"_That's not true." She crossed her arms. "I don't try to make anyone feel stupid – just embarrassed." _

"_Why do you think people sometimes feel embarrassed? It's not always the case, but it can be because someone made them look like a fool. Either that, or they made themselves look that way." _

"_Really?" She asked in sudden surprise. _She might not be strange or evil. It's possible that she's just an idiot. That's wrong. I shouldn't call someone I just met an idiot. She's probably not really an idiot. No, she's definitely just messing with me.

"_I'm not falling for that." I replied calmly. I could have sworn I heard a 'tch', but I ignored it. _How many times has this conversation gone in a circle? All the words we've spoken haven't taken us anywhere.

_She pushed herself off the pillar and walked up to me. "You're interesting. Most people can't keep up or they just get mad and leave." _I can't really blame them._ "I'm Nanto Yaya. You?" She held her hand out. I took it and smiled._

"_Suzumi Tamao. It might be nice to meet you." She grinned at my response. _

"_Likewise. We should do this again sometime. It was fun." After shaking my hand, she turned and walked towards Spica's section of the dorm. I stood in the same spot and watched her walk away._

This was certainly a unique experience._ She was probably one of the most unique people in this school, and she certainly had a personality that stood out more than everyone else._ Well, Chihaya-chan could probably give Yaya-chan a run for her money.

_Long after returning to my room, she was still on my mind. There was something about her that I really liked. I don't know if it was her wonderful singing voice, her casual way of teasing someone she just met, or maybe it really was just how she looked under the moonlight, but there was something about her that made me want to talk to her again. _

_But I never did._

_It's not like I never saw her again. In fact, I saw her frequently, but every time I did, she was with a blond girl that I didn't know. Whenever I saw the two of them, Yaya-chan always looked so happy. It felt like I would be intruding on them if I were to suddenly walk up to them and start talking to her, so I never did._

_Was it love at first sight? I don't think so. Did I develop some sort of crush on her? It's possible. It might have just been because she was someone that was completely different from the norm. Maybe someday I'll talk to her, get close, and find out what my feelings really are._

* * *

><p><strong>Grade 10 Year 4**

_The day had finally arrived! Against all odds, someone was actually transferring in as a fourth year. Even better, she would be my new roommate! I was so excited that I could barely contain my excitement. A few students asked me why I looked so happy and I could only tell them that 'Something good is happening.'_

_I had managed to convince Rokujo-san to allow me to show the new girl around in her place, so when the day came, I eagerly awaited her arrival. Perhaps I was a bit too excited. I ended up falling asleep late the night before and barely managed to wake up on time. As I went down to the head sister's office, I barely caught a glimpse of her as she entered the room. _Strawberries?

_The word crossed my mind as I walked down the hall. When I got closer to the door, a group of girls had already gathered in front and seemed to be listening in. I leaned against the wall next to the door and waited for the conversation to end before knocking. _

_It was difficult to hear the conversation through the wall, but I distinctively heard that my new roommate had some sort of medical condition. When I heard that, I thought I should do something to make these other students leave, but the door to the office suddenly swung open and a few girls fell inside. They spouted a unanimous apology before running off in different directions. _

_I walked up to the door after it closed and was about to knock, but I stopped when I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking. "-I was diagnosed with photophobia, so I have to wear these sunglasses around light." _That sounds inconvenient. I wonder if we can get dimmer lights for our room._ I knocked on the door and heard the sister tell me to enter. I smiled again as I entered the room._

_As Rokujo-san introduced me to her, I couldn't help but stare at the girl in front of me. Sunglasses or not, she was unbelievably cute! _Ah, she has strawberry hair. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Why is she being so quiet? Did I do something to offend her already?

_Just as I thought that, she smiled._ Cute! Why do cute things have to be my weakness? She's so cute that I just want to hug her, but she'd probably get mad or think I'm weird._ Just after she introduced herself, I already slipped up by calling her by her first name. I sighed inwardly with relief when she apparently didn't mind._

_After we stepped into the hall and Rokujo-san left, I tried to lead Nagisa-chan into the nurse's office. It proved unnecessary when she pulled out a card that had her measurements written on it. "That's quite some insight you have." Even if someone knew they had to get their measurements, I don't think they would normally measure it in advance. I took the card and studied the numbers intensely._ Let's see, if I remember correctly, the uniform number for her size is- ah, I remember.

_For a while, things were quiet between us until I asked her why she transferred here. She had apparently fallen ill, but that didn't really explain why her family would decide to move after she recovered. I didn't really put too much thought into it at the time. I told her that I was happy that she ended up becoming my roommate, and the conversation seemed to pick up from there. With her teasing, she reminded me a bit of Yaya-chan. I bet those two would get along well. It would be an entertaining conversation. _

_The tour seemed to be going great, even if we had to run back to the dorms because I had kept us out too long. Things went sour when Nagisa-chan met Etoile-sama. The Etoile had immediately started flirting with her, but Nagisa-chan was actually able to get away from her. At first, it looked like she was actually going to punch the Etoile, but in the end, she simply slipped out of her grasp and made it look so effortless. She was grinning with confidence when she spoke to the Etoile, but when she walked with me to our seats, I could see that she was annoyed._

_After I brought her back to our room, she began rummaging through her things while explaining why the Etoile angered her. I could understand why Nagisa-chan was mad, and it made me wonder why she was the first person to have this reaction, at least the first as far as I knew. Talking with her made me remember bumping into the Etoile near the end of last year, but I was able to get away thanks to the bell ringing. I'm not sure why I wasn't able to get away and I didn't want to think about it.  
><em>

_While Nagisa-chan was laying on the bed, possibly lost in thought, I went off to the bathroom to shower and change so she could have some privacy. When I returned, I saw her sitting at her desk, combing her hair while wearing…goggles. I knew why, but she didn't know I knew why, so I had to ask. I think she tried to change the subject by teasing me, or maybe she just did it for fun. When I looked over her pajamas, I saw the wristbands and couldn't stop myself from asking about it. I kind of believed what she said about wearing them since she was a kid, but something told me that wasn't it._

_When night came around, I couldn't stop my stupid curiosity any longer and ended up asking "Can I see your eyes?" _Am I an idiot? That's going to make her uncomfortable._ To my surprise, she agreed. Just like her hair, her eyes were unlike any I had ever seen before. They seemed to be a shade of orange and looked as if they were glowing in the dark background. "Your eyes are beautiful." I said it without thinking, but it was true. I think I embarrassed her. It wasn't really how I expected the first day to end, but I'm not complaining._

* * *

><p><em>Over time, I had learned many things about Nagisa, like the fact that she didn't like bothering with honorifics. That quickly led to us to just calling each other by our first names without any honorifics. <em>

_I wasn't sure which was more impressive – how hard she studies or how fast she eats. She had worked hard from the start to make up for being three years behind in French. Watching her work so hard inspired me to do my best as well. On the other hand, watching her eat was something else entirely. If you blinked, it would seem as if her food had simply vanished. It was interesting and slightly frightening. _

_After bringing her to the literature club, I learned about what happened to her parents and how she injured her eyes. I don't know if she was actually ready to talk about it, and it feels like I forced her into a situation where she had to speak. After that, we had spent the whole night telling each other about our parents and ended up falling asleep in the same bed. _

_It was the following night, and the nights after, that I discovered that Nagisa had frequent nightmares. It seemed that she woke up every morning screaming. It startled me at first, but all Nagisa did was curse under her breath before acting like everything was normal. It seemed like she didn't know she actually screamed. The only other thing she did that wasn't normal was when she would hold her wrist after sitting up. Since she never said anything about it, I never asked, even though I was concerned. I didn't want to force her to speak again, so I decided to wait until she was ready to talk about it._

_Sometime after that, Nagisa started spending time with Rokujo-san and the Etoile. It seemed weird at first, considering how much the Etoile had angered her on Nagisa's first day. It didn't really make any sense until she told me why she was talking to them. Those two knew about the past she wanted to keep secret, and they were helping her deal with it. She must have more baggage than I imagined if she was worried about what I would think of her if she told me. _

"_You are my best friend and if you suddenly have a different opinion about me because of my past, I'd probably be heartbroken." That's what she told me. She wanted to trust me, but she was afraid. She had lost everything before, and she was frightened that it would happen again. To prove her point, she showed me her wrist. Underneath that wristband was a scar that she had kept hidden long before she transferred to Miator. The possibility had crossed my mind before, but part of me refused to believe that my best friend had tried to kill herself._

_I was foolish and selfish. How could I be so blind? "Good night, Tamao-chan." The words sounded so cryptic. Without thinking, I called out to her and grabbed her hand. It was the wrong time to be thinking like this. _She's my best friend and I'll be there for her when she needs it.

"_I won't pity you." I let her know that I was here for her. No matter what she went through, I would be willing to listen to her. I would be there for her, because that's what friends are for, right? Nagisa smiled, clearly relieved that I didn't abandon her.__ I was glad to see that smile, but at the same time, it felt like I would have lost her forever if I hadn't stopped her right then.  
><em>

_I don't know what she went through, and the possibilities seemed endless. It didn't matter. I felt that I would be ready for anything._

_I was naïve._

* * *

><p>The three of us were completely silent. There was no way we could possibly be prepared for this. So many awful things happened to her in such a short amount of time. I don't think I would have the strength to move on if I had gone through the same thing. None of us would.<p>

I managed to pull my eyes away from Nagisa long enough to look at the other two. They must have been thinking the same thing. Yaya was clearly torn between anger and surprise. Inside, I felt the same way. I had never met the boys she talked about, and I know I never will. Despite that, I felt a deep hatred towards them for what they had done to Nagisa and how much misery they brought her. Just thinking about making them pay for what they did made my fists quiver.

I turned my head slightly to check on Tsubomi, who had a look comprising of both shock and disbelief, most likely similar to the face I was making. I couldn't blame her. This was the girl that was working hard to befriend everyone she met. The two of them had become close friends almost the instant they met. It seemed so unreal that Nagisa would have suffered through so much.

_Abandonment_

_Isolation_

_Betrayal_

_Gang raped_

_Attempted murder_

_Pregnancy_

_Stillbirth_

_Attempted suicide_

I had to push down the bile that rose in my throat as I thought back on her story. Any one of these things could push someone over the edge, yet she had experienced them all. What are you supposed to say to someone who has lived through all of that? What could _anyone_ say after hearing that? 'I'm sorry to hear that'? 'Oh wow, that sucks'? 'Cheer up'? Such halfhearted words would only do more harm than good. There aren't any words that could lift the spirits of someone who not only said, but truly believes that her existence is a sin.

_What the hell kind of friend am I? She called me her best friend, and I said I would be there for her. After hearing all of this, why am I so useless?_ I had to keep thinking.

Nagisa remained quiet after finishing her story. She knew we would need time before we could speak. _She knew we would be at a loss for words. She probably expects us to abandon her like those girls at her last school. How can we show that we care without making it look like we pity her? She's stronger than she's giving herself credit for. She's stronger than all of us. She doesn't need pity; she needs her friends._

_I can't imagine the intense suffering she went through when she was raped, or the disparity and weakness she felt as she laid on the floor. Just thinking about such a horrid experience is hard to bare. No wonder she had so many nightmares. Even after that, she still had the strength to live, not for herself, but for a child that was forced upon her. The sheer willpower to keep living for the sake of someone she felt was innocent in all of this was truly amazing. It seemed so cruel that the baby was never born. I'm sure Nagisa would have been a great mother if she had the chance. How could any of us think less of her for that? If anything, it only proves how strong of a person she is. I wish you could see just how incredible you really are._

I thought through her story again, trying to keep my emotions in check. Thinking about it made me sick to my stomach. _I wish I could have been with her. I wish she didn't have to be alone. It's hard to believe that someone who experienced all of that could be the same age as me._ My thoughts screeched to a halt. _Same age? _That wasn't right.

I remembered all of our conversations up until now. Some people might think that's a bit creepy, but I don't think it's wrong. She's the only person I've ever met that I could actually call my best friend. I couldn't bring myself to forget anything we talked about. It would just be sad if I did.

Comparing some of those conversations to her story, I could see how often she lied to keep me from finding out more than she was willing to share about her past. She said she had missed a year of school due to illness, but that obviously wasn't right. Even if she had missed a year of school in America, she could have still come over to Japan and just transferred in late. _The time frame isn't adding up. If she got pregnant in May, she would have delivered sometime around February. She said that she went to therapy and then transferred here. There's no way she would have been able to move across the world and transfer in at the beginning of the trimester in such a short time. _

I looked back to Nagisa, who was slumped against the floor and sobbing into her hands. Part of me wanted to hold her and tell her it would be okay, but I knew that wasn't the right thing to do here. I had to wonder what she was thinking right now. Was she regretting that she told us all of this? Was she reliving that nightmare in her head? Regardless of what was on her mind, I had to ask her what was on my mind.

"What aren't you telling us?" She lifted her head to look at me so quickly that I feared she just gave herself whiplash. I don't know if she was surprised by me suddenly speaking up, or if it was what I asked. "It's just like when you told me about your parents. Even when you're truly being honest and opening your heart to others, it's become instinctive for you to lie. At the end of the story about your parents, you said that it was the piano that made you open up, but according this story, you had already started speaking by then. I realize now why you did it. You simply wanted the story to end. You rushed to the end of the story with something vague that didn't follow the seriousness that led up to it. You're doing the same thing here, aren't you?"

I could make out that Nagisa's eyes widened as I spoke, even with her shades blocking the view. She didn't speak up, so I continued. "I know you're not trying to lie to us now, but part of you is preventing you from speaking the truth throughout the entire story. It's impossible for you to have delivered in February-" Having to choose my words carefully here made me a little nauseous. "-and then attempt suicide, go through rehab for everything you told us about, then move to a different country, and still make it here at the beginning of the school year. I didn't forget what you told me, Nagisa. I never forgot that you're a year older than us."

Nagisa lowered her head, but still she remained silent. "It takes a long time for a case to go to trial in the United States, doesn't it?" Yaya spoke up. "Whether you were in therapy or not, you couldn't have left the country until the case was settled. If that Kaito bastard didn't confess until the actually trial, you wouldn't have been able to leave the country as soon as you claim. They obviously couldn't hold the trial while you were in the hospital since you were the victim. If my knowledge of American law is right, which it might not be, don't cases usually take a long time to go to court and even longer if the victim and the one pressing charges is incapacitated?"

Nagisa's body shook slightly as she let out a humorless laugh. "Well, at least you listened to everything. I suppose that's a good sign." Despite how bitter she sounded, it really looked as if she was relieved, perhaps even hopeful. "I was sent to a clinic. Since I wasn't the one that initially chose to go there, I couldn't choose when I no longer needed to go there. There were only two ways for me to get out of it – my grandfather checks me out, or the counselors give me the clear to end my therapy." She leaned back against the wall and looked at the empty space between where I stood and where the other two stood. "Gramps would never believe I was okay after seeing me at my worst. Strangers, on the other hand, are much easier to fool."

"You lied to get out of rehab?" Yaya asked.

"That's an understatement. These were professionals, after all. They wouldn't believe I had suddenly become better." She looked away from us completely. "I really am a good liar. Slowly but surely, I played the role of a recovering victim. It took months, but I eventually pulled it off and I was released. As if their pity-induced coddling would really help anyone." _I don't think she really believes that. She probably just felt that everyone was judging her behind her back._

She paused for a moment, probably expecting us to say something. After a moment of silence, she continued speaking. "The trial was held during the summer while I was still going to therapy. There really isn't anything more to say about that other than Kaito confessing. Gramps didn't believe that I should have stopped going to counseling, but he couldn't argue with certified professionals. We moved back here sometime in the fall, but nothing happened between then and my transfer. It wasn't until a few days before I actually transferred here that I was told I would be going back to school. Clever old fart had my transfer ready without me ever realizing it."

She looked at the three of us, and then looked up at the ceiling. "That's everything I have to tell. All of my secrets are out. You guys think I'm disgusting, right? You'll leave just like the rest of them, won't you? I won't hold it against any of you. Our time together was fun while it lasted. I understand. I'm manipulative, pathetic and weak."

"That's not true." Tsubomi spoke up for the first time. "If you of all people are weak, what does that make everyone else?" She walked up to Nagisa and knelt down in front of her, looking her straight in the eye. "If you were really weak, you wouldn't be here right now. I don't think there's anyone else that would have enough willpower to keep living after going through what you experienced. You aren't giving yourself enough credit."

"Aren't you giving me too much credit?" Nagisa sounded almost _desperate_. Somewhere inside, she really wanted to believe what Tsubomi was saying. She wanted to be saved. "I didn't have the willpower to keep going. That's why I tried to kill myself!"

"But you're still here." Her reply startled Nagisa. "Do you mean to say that in the year or so since your last attempt, you've never had the opportunity to kill yourself?" It was surprising to hear her speak like this, but I could see her discomfort. She was saying it because it was what she felt she had to say. "You survived their attempt and your own because you're stronger than you're willing to admit. You've continued to live because deep down, you still have hope. Part of you still believes that you can escape your loneliness; that you'll eventually find friends who care about the real you instead of whom you pretend to be. You still hold on to the hope that you'll find people that accept everything about you and won't abandon you."

Tsubomi smiled. "Your efforts have paid off. You have that friendship here with us. We're still with you because we want to be with you, not because we feel obligated to. We certainly don't pity you because you're the strongest person we'll ever meet. You're our friend and you always will be. We aren't going to abandon you."

That did it.

Like a dam bursting, tears flowed freely down Nagisa's cheeks. Tsubomi pulled her into a hug and the older girl cried into the pinkette's shoulder. Yaya and I exchanged smiles. I'm sure we were both impressed with how our kouhai handled the situation better than either of us could have. Today, she seemed much more mature than the rest of us.

Just when things seemed to improve, the sound of movement in the hall caught my attention. Before I could even move, Yaya was already opening the door and looking out in the hall. After a moment, she shut the door and looked at me with a frown before shaking her head. _Had someone been listening this entire time?_ I could only hope that wasn't the case as I looked back at the two girls on the floor. It seemed neither of them noticed anything. _Please, just let her be happy for once._

* * *

><p>After Nagisa calmed down, Tsubomi took her up to our room while Yaya and I went to speak with the Etoile and Rokujo-san. I was truly surprised by how late it had become. I knew that the story would last a while if Nagisa was willing to speak, but I hadn't expected it to last this long. Dinner had ended quite some time ago. I sincerely hoped that the noise from earlier was just someone returning to their room.<p>

Yaya and I entered Rokujo-san's room and explained what had happened. The night before, the three of us visited Rokujo-san and Shizuma-san and told them about how worried we were about Nagisa. It was Rokujo-san's idea to wait until she returned to Shizuma-san's room to confront her and tell her that we were worried about her. _Did she know that Nagisa would tell us the truth in that situation?_

"So in the end, that first year girl outshined all of us." The Etoile mused. "I'm a bit impressed, considering how nervous and _fidgety _she seemed when I first met her." I noticed that both seniors seemed to be relieved. _They were both worried about her as well._

"Perhaps, because she is younger, she couldn't fully grasp the severity of what Nagisa experienced. That may have allowed her to think more clearly than any of us did." Rokujo-san pondered. _I don't believe that's really true. I could tell by the shock on her face. She fully understood what Nagisa was saying, just as the rest of us did._ _Yaya and I were probably thinking too much and ended up not knowing what to say, while she probably didn't need to think. I bet Tsubomi just spoke what she truly believed._

"The three of you seemed to handle the situation very well. I wonder if we could have done the same if she had told us everything."

"I doubt it." Shizuma-san frowned. "I could barely control my anger just from what she told us. I can't imagine my reaction if she had been completely honest. Did you know that she told us she pretended her ex was a girl just so people were less likely to figure out what he did to her?"

"She never said anything like that, but I'm not really surprised that she didn't say everything the first time. It seems she instinctively lies to protect herself; she makes sure that people don't know more than she's willing to share." I replied. _Lying became second nature and she ended up doing it whether she wanted to or not._ "What was different about your version?"

"It was quite a bit different, really. She never mentioned the other two boys that raped her, nor did she mention them trying to kill her. In fact, she claimed that she had cut both wrists when she tried killing herself, but she only showed us one wrist. She also left out the rehab and never gave us a timeframe for when everything occurred, probably so we wouldn't find any contradictions." Shizuma-san sighed. "What a hard life to live." She glanced over at Yaya. "You've been quiet. Something on your mind?"

Yaya blinked a few times, and then looked up at Shizuma-san. "Yeah." She answered. "We think someone may have been listening in on us. When Nagisa finished speaking, Tamao and I heard someone running in the hall. I don't know what we should do about it."

We put our heads together in order to think of a solution, but in the end, we couldn't think of anything to do about it. It's not like we could go around and ask if anyone was in the hall at the time because that would just raise suspicion. All we could really do was hope for the best.

_Miracles don't exist._

Those words chilled me to the bone.

* * *

><p>I separated from Yaya and returned to my room. When I entered, I saw that Nagisa was under the covers, already asleep. Tsubomi was sitting on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through Nagisa's hair in a calming manner. It was rather cute, really. I leaned against the door after closing it and looked at the two.<p>

I had noticed the building relationship between these two in the few weeks they had known each other. They had become friends almost instantly, but I suppose that was pretty normal for Nagisa. _I wonder what Tsubomi thought of her at the time. Nagisa suddenly called her cute and even 'moe', and then started dragging her around by the arm and even hugging her. She looked so completely caught off guard by how Nagisa acted towards her. It was interesting to watch._

"Say, Tsubomi." It's rare for the two of us to be alone like this, since Nagisa is asleep. I felt like I should ask while I had the opportunity. "Do you like Nagisa?"

"Huh?" She suddenly looked over at me. _Had she been so preoccupied that she hadn't notice me enter?_

"Do you like Nagisa?" I asked again. I thought about trying to be roundabout, but I ended up being direct.

"W-what?" I could see a deep crimson spread across her face before she turned her head away from me. I walked over to my bed and sat down.

"You two have gotten close at a surprisingly quick rate, even for Nagisa. Your blush pretty much gives away the answer. I'm asking as Nagisa's overprotective best friend – do you like Nagisa?" Maybe I was asking it a bit harshly. I probably made her uncomfortable.

"She's a really great person, you know." Tsubomi spoke up. "She's always trying her hardest, isn't she? I'm sure that even before I met her, she was working hard to do her best at everything, especially befriending and getting along with people she just met. Nagisa was always doing everything she could for her friends, even going out of her way to help them. She'd play it off as a joke, or try to hide what her intentions were, but it was obvious when she was trying to help someone."

Tsubomi chuckled a little. "I know I wasn't the easiest person to get along with. Most people were put off by my attitude, but she wasn't. No matter how I reacted, she'd always pull me into a hug and say I was being cute. It was something I had never experienced before, and it made me happy. Without even realizing it, I felt myself being drawn towards her. I might have been drawn to her from the first time we met. Just being with her is enough to make me smile." She looked up at me with a sweet smile I had never seen before. "Yes. I like Nagisa. I know I can't confess my feelings right now, but I'm fine with that. The important thing right now is that she knows we're here for her. I know she wouldn't abandon any of us, so I'll make sure she knows I won't leave her."

"You're a good girl, aren't you?" I asked without thinking. _Tsubomi really is mature for her age._ She looked away, most likely feeling embarrassed. "I agree. We'll support her as much as we can because she's our friend, right?" Tsubomi nodded her head vigorously.

_She's my best friend. I'll do all that I can to ensure that she doesn't suffer anymore._

_**Act II: End**_

* * *

><p><strong>*I don't know if the actual term for that thing is 'gazebo', but I couldn't figure out any other name for it. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's that thing near the center of the dorms that Nagisa is standing on halfway through episode 15. If anyone knows the actual name of that thing, please tell me because I have no clue. Or gazebo could be right and I could secretly be awesome, but I'm betting on the former.<strong>

**A/N Well, at least this chapter came out faster than the last one, right? I thought this would be a good chapter to do from someone else's perspective. Tamao seemed like a more appropriate choice over Yaya, and Tsubomi hasn't been in the story long enough for it to make much sense in doing it from her point. I also took the chance to create a background for Tamao that would explain why she acts the way she does in this series and perhaps explain why she's so crazy attached to Nagisa in the anime. Of course it's not canon, but how much of this story actually has been? **

**I'm sure parts of this chapter weren't unexpected. Well, I'm sure most people wouldn't expect me to fix the contradictions, but that's another story. The childhood friend, the best friend, and the friend she got unexpectedly close to – I doubt very many people expected them to just say "Fuck this, I'm out" and leave. **

**Next Chapter marks the start of Act III and it returns to Nagisa's perspective and returns to third person. Writing in first person felt weird. I bet the transition back will feel even weirder.**

**Only six reviews? I expected a staggering thirty or something. Not really, but that would have been awesome. But seriously, thanks for the reviews guys and gals and people of questionable gender! **

**the cold raven – You shouldn't thank me for it. It makes me feel awkward. I didn't actually expect to make anyone cry, though. All I can offer is this chapter and a hug. C'mere, you.  
><strong>

**romancejunkie – Remember all of those times when I said I was a sadist? I think I proved it. This is probably the darkest past I could write while keeping it within the scope of reality. **

**lord orion123 – Compared to some of the writing I've seen on here, I'd say my grammar is good enough to justify not needing a beta. I've seen plenty of stories that were betafied that still had worse grammar than mine. One might be good for idea generation, but I also like going with the flow of my own writing and seeing if I can do something about my mistakes later on. Also, Tamao doesn't blush enough to be a tomato. **

**KittyAttack – Mission accomplished!**

**kaizer20 – What? No! That's not right at all! There's no punchline! This isn't a comedy…right now. Well, I had expected you to laugh at this anyway. Maybe you're just a lost cause in the "make people baww" department. I won't hold it against you for laughing at angst. To be honest, I laugh my ass off at smut. No matter which couple is or how well it's written, smut always makes me laugh. I can't even attempt to write it because I'll just laugh at any stupid line I'd write. **

**YOUnoWHO – There's always more…until there isn't more. But that's at the end when it's over.**


	15. The Day After Yesterday

**Act III: Rehabilitation**

The morning came much too soon for Nagisa's tastes. Grumbling about how cruel it is to have to wake up before noon, she forced her eyes open. As soon as she opened them, she found herself staring at an all-too-familiar pinkette and smiled purely out of reflex. She sat up slowly, being careful not to wake the girl sleeping next to her. She glanced across the room to find her best friend was still asleep as well.

She looked back and forth between the two and thought back to last night. She had confessed every secret she could, revealing far more than she ever dared to tell anyone else until now. _They heard everything and they still stayed with me. Tamao and Yaya even caught the holes in my story and forced me to stop hiding behind the lies that had become second nature. _

Nagisa looked away from her best friend to look down at Tsubomi. The younger girl's words played in her mind repeatedly, giving the redhead a weird feeling. She was smiling, but she felt like crying as well. It was something she couldn't remember experiencing in a long time.

Nagisa was truly happy.

She didn't know how to explain it. Even though she felt horrible about it last night, she was no longer ashamed of crying in front of three people she knew she could call her friends. Nagisa had hated herself for feeling so weak, but they called her strong. She thought she would be abandoned, but here they are. Well, two of them anyway. The third girl was most certainly harassing a certain blond at the moment.

It all felt so strange to Nagisa. She wanted to laugh and hug all three of her precious friends at once. They weren't with her because they had to be there; they were with her because they actually _cared_ about her.

She wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. There was no reason for her to cry right now. _I'm putting my trust in you three. I hope I don't regret it._

"_Miracles don't exist."_

Her cheerfulness faded as she remembered her own words from last night. She had said that line because she believed it to be true. Miracles had never saved her before so it was foolish to believe in them now. _If it's not a miracle, then meeting these three was probably nothing more than dumb luck. I seem to have a lot of it._ Nagisa wasn't expecting things to go so smoothly. Things were _never_ that simple when she was involved. _I just hope the cost of meeting such great friends is bearable._

Nagisa shook the thought from her mind. For the time being, she just wanted to obtain as many pleasant memories as she could.

As the thought crossed her mind, she looked back at the sleeping beauties and rolled her eyes. _How long are these two going to sleep?_ She glanced over at the clock and saw that she had woken up only a few minutes before Tamao's alarm went off. _I think I'll make a fun memory right now._ She grinned sadistically as she tossed the covers off of Tsubomi and herself.

She carefully climbed over the younger girl to keep her from waking up. Once she successfully escaped from her own bed, she walked over to Tamao and pulled the covers off of her. She returned to Tsubomi and carefully picked the girl up, moving slowly to ensure she didn't startle the girl awake. Nagisa carried her over to Tamao's bed and laid her down next to the blunette. She adjusted their bodies so they were not only facing each other, but hugging each other as well.

Nagisa took a step back to make sure they were in a good position, and then grabbed the covers off of her own bed. She folded it a few times and laid it on the floor next to Tamao's bed, fully expecting Tsubomi to fall off from the shock. After she was done, she sat down in the chair at Tamao's desk and watched the two, waiting for them to wake up. The minutes seemed to pass by agonizingly slow; nevertheless, Nagisa found herself to be surprisingly _giddy_ as she waited.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The alarm was much louder than Nagisa expected. _How in the hell has that thing never woke me up before?_ The sleeping girls began to stir before they both opened their eyes. In perfect unison, both girls stared at each other until realization dawned on them. They tried to back away, but found that they were both hugging each other. They jerked their arms away in surprise and they both jumped back at the same time. Tamao jumped back against the wall and, as expected, Tsubomi fell off of the bed and right on the folded covers.

Nagisa, who had been trying to stifle her giggles with both of her hands over her mouth, couldn't hold it any longer. A cheerful laughter caught the attention of both startled girls. They turned to glare at the laughing redhead. "You should have seen the looks on your faces!" She cried out as she held her sides while laughing. They both tried to give Nagisa a death glare, but seeing their friend laugh so _genuinely_ made them both smile.

"You're going to pay for that." Tsubomi said, trying to sound angry at her not-so-secret crush.

"You're not sadistic enough for your threats to work when you're smiling." Nagisa teased, trying to stop herself from laughing again.

"What if I did it?" Tamao asked, showing her best friend the sweetest smile she could. Nagisa couldn't explain why, but she suddenly felt nervous. _I can sense a strong amount of killing intent oozing out of that smile._

"B-best friends wouldn't threaten each other, right?" Despite Nagisa trying to suck up, Tamao's smile didn't falter in the slightest. _I think I'm gonna piss myself._ She glanced over at Tsubomi, who seemed to be just as nervous as she was. She looked back at Tamao and lowered her head. "I'm sorry." She could hear movement from Tamao's bed, but she didn't dare to look up. _Oh kami, is she going to suddenly snap like that orange-haired girl from that one show and pull out a hatchet?_

Nagisa was surprised to suddenly find that she was being hugged. "Good girl. Don't do it again." Nagisa just nodded her head, thankful that she had been spared. "Anyway, we're going to be late." Tamao suddenly changed the topic. She grabbed her uniform and left the room to change. Tsubomi and Nagisa both sighed in relief.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes and she wasn't even smiling at me." Tsubomi mumbled.

"Teasing is fine, but I probably won't survive if I pull another prank on her. I guess I'll have to play all my pranks on Tsubomi instead~" Nagisa had swiftly recovered and was now grinning devilishly at her kouhai.

"Knock it off already!"

* * *

><p>Despite the near-death experience, everything was going smoothly that morning until the three of them left the room together. Once they started running into other people, Nagisa started feeling tense and nervous. All of the confidence and joy she had built up was suddenly drained the moment she stepped through the door. It was easy to smile and laugh when she was only with two people she felt she could trust, but once that door opened, Nagisa had to face reality again.<p>

Despite whatever expectations of it she had, the world did not suddenly change overnight. In fact, it seemed that the only thing that had changed was her own paranoia, though she would certainly deny it, despite how quickly her eyes were darting back and forth.

Everything was the same; everyone was the same as yesterday. The girls that she had spoken to at least once since her enrollment would greet her as usual, though some would stop to ask if she was alright, either out of concern or simple curiosity.

Nagisa was trying to think up a good answer without giving anything away. She didn't want to flat out lie either, but it seemed that she would have to in order to answer them. To her surprise, Tamao let out a small chuckle before Nagisa could think of anything. She glanced over at the blunette that was sporting a mischievous grin. _This can't end well._

"That would be my fault." Tamao answered the gathered group of girls, smiling sweetly at them. "I kept her up all night telling her ghost stories. It turns out that our little Nagisa-chan is scared of ghosts. Who knew?" She said playfully. _Huh? Since when was I afraid of ghosts? Okay, the ghosts from the first Ghostbusters movie scared the shit out of me, but those things were freaky! It's not like she would know that any- ohhh. Clever girl._

The girls looked at Nagisa expectantly. "It was awful." Nagisa whined. "She just kept telling them even after I hid under the bed. She even told me one about a demon that eats girls that hide under the bed! It was horrible!" Nagisa tried to sound as pathetic as possible.

"You're the one that said you _weren't_ hiding under the bed." Tamao replied innocently. _I'm a really bad influence, or maybe it was Yaya that made her like this._

"You manipulated me! Instead of just asking if I wanted to hear another one, you would just ask 'You're not too scared to hear another story, right?' How could I just say to stop when you're asking it like that! Despite evidence to the contrary, I do have some pride." Nagisa crossed her arms and looked away from Tamao, pretending to pout.

"Says the girl who was so scared that she asked to share a bed with me just so she could sleep." Tamao replied, keeping the playfulness in her voice.

"Hey!" Nagisa cried out, looking back at Tamao in embarrassment. _Well, I suppose that part was actually true, but it's completely different! _Tamao seemed to be enjoying Nagisa's reactions, and the redhead was only digging herself in a deeper hole. She quickly sighed in defeat. "I give up." The other girls that had gathered chuckled at their antics, never knowing that this was Tamao's way of getting revenge. _I'm never playing a prank on her again…unless I forget, of course._ Nagisa chanced another glance at Tamao's sweet, yet secretly vicious, smile. _I hope I don't forget._

"Since Nagisa loves ghost stories so much, I bet she would love to know about the 'seven mysteries of the strawberry dorms' or whatever it's called." Nagisa paled slightly at the new voice joining their conversation. Most people assumed it to be due to fear of the supernatural, but a select few knew that reaction was due to _who_ was joining their conversation, not _what_ she was saying.

"Have you come to tease me as well, Yaya?" Nagisa turned to the raven-haired girl with a pout.

"Don't tell me you aren't interested. Like the rumor about a girl crying in-" Yaya paused when Nagisa suddenly covered her ears and proclaimed 'I'm not interested!'

"She's pretty good at this." Tamao said, sharing a knowing glance with Tsubomi and Yaya. "I think that's enough for now. I've had my fun." At this moment, Tsubomi couldn't help but think that Tamao had a bit of sadism in her.

* * *

><p>After Tamao finally had the good grace to spare Nagisa from further torture, the group made their way down to the cafeteria, Nagisa and Tsubomi walking together in front with Yaya and Tamao following together behind them. As they came closer to the cafeteria, the group noticed that several glances were directed at them, and the two in the back noticed that they were focused on Nagisa.<p>

The transfer student exchanged confused looks with her kouhai. The stares seemed to be a mixture of awe and amusement, as depicted by their facial expressions and the occasional giggle. The redhead and pinkette shrugged it off as nothing important, but the two friends bringing up the rear felt otherwise. They were both clearly worried, jumping to the worst conclusion that their little eavesdropper had spread what she heard to the other students.

As they entered the cafeteria, they were met with a sight that neither Nagisa nor Tsubomi expected to see.

"Newspaper! Get your newspaper here before we run out! It's a real hot seller this week!" A few Spica students were positioned at one of the tables with a bundle of newspapers neatly folded on the table. One girl, who seemed to be a bit tomboyish, was calling out through a rolled up paper, most likely acting as if it were a megaphone.

In unison, Nagisa and Tsubomi could only speak one question.

"What the hell?" They turned to Tamao and Yaya expectantly, clearly confused. Neither of them imagined that this kind of behavior would go unpunished by the nuns here, but they could clearly see the head nun in the room, hardly even acknowledging that this was happening.

"Newspaper club." They deadpanned, perfectly synchronized. Before they could ask any further, as if that answer had really told them anything, the tomboy's voice picked up again.

"Only a few copies left, folks! We have some top quality stories this week! News on the upcoming competition featuring Amane-sempai? You better believe we've covered it! News about the upcoming exams? Pshaw! We wouldn't waste your time with a boring article like that!" The girl nearly slipped off the table when she saw the head sister's disapproving look, but to her credit, she kept on rambling. "Instead of that, we've got a new story about our ever so carefree Lulim president and her budding relationship with the transfer student!"

"Her what?" Nagisa practically shouted, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment after hearing about her relationship that she didn't know she had. All eyes turned to the redhead, further humiliating her. As if to only make things worse, the tomboy practically glided over to the redhead with an overzealous grin before wrapping an arm around Nagisa's shoulders.

"The star is here!" Nagisa couldn't help noting that this girl was annoying loud from far away and even more so when she was up close. "Care to make a comment about your relationship with Lulim's president for the audience?" She asked in a sort of interviewing tone as she moved her arm to showcase the so-called 'audience'.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nagisa practically whined, becoming uncomfortable in this situation. The woman took a step back and pouted playfully.

"Someone doesn't read my stories? I'm hurt." She threw her head back overdramatically."I'll never become Japan's number one at this rate."

Nagisa sweat dropped. "Number one what, exactly?"

"Number one writer? Storyteller? I don't know." The tomboy shrugged and all in one fluid motion, everyone in the cafeteria fell out of their chairs due to the reporter's airheaded ways. "Anyway…" She pulled a newspaper out of seemingly nowhere, which disturbed the redhead slightly. "Here!" She handed it to Nagisa while giving her unwavering, possibly over exaggerated smile. "Since there's an article on you, you get a free copy! This totally isn't my way of trying to lure you into being one of my readers or anything. Nope! Not at all!"

"Uh…thanks." Nagisa was a bit dumbfounded. She just didn't know how to handle this type of person. _No single human body should be able to contain this much energy. It iss not only bad for the body, but for everyone around it that has to deal with all of this energy._ _I can't keep up with this chick._

The newspaper club member nodded approvingly before patting Nagisa on the shoulder and stepping back. "The name's Asurobi Mika. I'm sure you'll enjoy my article." She said, her voice finally dropping to a bearable level. "See ya later, Nagisa-chan!" Her voice could only stay quiet for so long, apparently.

"What… an eccentric personality." The group watched the girl in disbelief as she left, before looking down at the newspaper. Nagisa nearly fainted.

_St. Miator's newest flower blossoms!_

"Who the hell is blossoming?" Nagisa shouted indignantly. The article was a completely fabricated tale about the relationship between Nagisa and Chikaru. Next to the article was a picture of Chikaru with her hands on Nagisa's shoulder, her face a little too close to the redhead's. Nagisa recognized it from when Chikaru tried recruiting her into her transformation club. _When the hell did anyone even get close enough to take that kind of picture?_

Nagisa turned to her friends, her face flushed in embarrassment. "What's wrong?" Yaya asked, making no effort to hide how amusing this was.

"How the hell can anyone write something like this? It's a complete lie!" Nagisa certainly had nothing against Chikaru, but this kind of story completely blew their friendship out of proportion. "Look at this stuff! 'Nagisa-chan found herself enraptured by Chikaru-san's beauty from the first moment their eyes met. That breathtaking smile captivated the redhead's heart, and she soon found herself yearning to see more of it.' What. The. Fuck." _I'll kill her. I'll strangle her with her own newspaper! It might be physically impossible, but I'll make it happen, damn it!_ Nagisa looked at her friends incredulously, pretending not to see Yaya leaning against the wall for support, lest she fall over during her laughing fit.

"Everyone knows it's not true; her stories are always made up. Look." Tamao pointed to a line in small print on the bottom of the page, while her other hand poorly hid her smile.

"This story is purely a fabrication based solely on the picture and not any actual facts, so don't sue me, Chikaru-chan!" Nagisa read out loud with some difficulty. The line was so small that she could barely even see it. "What the hell?" She glared at the paper as if that would set it ablaze. While glaring at it, she saw what seemed to be a miniature version of Mika drawn next to the phrase, winking.

"You all look like you're having fun." A familiar student spoke up, joining the group and looking over Nagisa's shoulder at the paper that the redhead wished a most hideous death upon. The transfer student turned her head and nearly flung herself back into the wall when she saw Chikaru's face right in front of her own.

"Holy sh-" She stumbled, but managed to catch herself. Nagisa was about to shout at Chikaru to stop doing that, but stopped when she saw Chikaru had one of her rare frowns.

"Again?" Chikaru sighed. "That's the third story she's written about me this month. Why does she keep pairing me with different girls like I'm some sort of player?" Nagisa tried picturing Chikaru as such. The thought would have disturbed her if it wasn't so amusing.

"It might help if you didn't touch and cling to people so much." Yaya stated.

Chikaru crossed her arms and made her best attempt at a pout. "People like Nagisa cling to others all the time, but no one writes those strange stories about her!" Nagisa cleared her throat and gave Chikaru a flat look, pointing at the newspaper she was holding. Chikaru smiled sheepishly. "Oh, it seems they do."

"Oh, the burdens of popularity!" Yaya shouted dramatically. Chikaru was about to say something, but stopped herself when she realized she didn't even know his this girl was.

"This isn't some poorly written slapstick comedy." (Or is it?) Tsubomi deadpanned. Now that Chikaru thought about it, she didn't recognize the first year that had been mostly silently as well. In fact, she only noticed Nagisa and Tamao when she walked over, and felt a bit silly for being so unobservant.

Chikaru definitely thought this group was interesting. Even though she had only spoken to Nagisa when she walked over, the two girls she hadn't even met accepted her into this little circle of friends so easily, and the teasing exchange began. It was as she expected. Nagisa was an interesting girl, so she would obviously have some interesting friends. How fun!

While Chikaru exchanged introductions with Yaya and Tsubomi, Nagisa turned to Tamao. "I'm surprised Spica has a club like this. I'd imagine clubs with strange stories would be part of Lulim."

"The newspaper club doesn't exclusively write rather… creative stories. Most of the time, their paper is full of school related stories, such as upcoming school events, or news about sports competitions. This type of story only goes into the paper when they don't have enough news to fill up the paper."

Nagisa's head lowered and she sighed deeply. "So my embarrassment is just page filler?"

"At least people seemed to enjoy it." Tamao offered, though it did little to lift Nagisa's spirits. Nagisa turned to those who were still sitting in the cafeteria. She noticed that most of them were, in fact, holding a newspaper, and seemed to be enjoying whatever they were reading. She could only hope that it was the article about Amane that they were really interested in. She might have been right, but students would occasionally look up at her, and then look back at the newspaper quickly, some blushing, some giggling, and some seemed to be jealous.

"I'll never understand girls." Nagisa said simply, looking back at Tamao, who shrugged slightly.

"We're probably not meant to be understood."

* * *

><p>Weird.<p>

That was the only way Nagisa could describe today. Throughout the entire day, from breakfast to class, class to lunch, and lunch to afternoon classes, people kept staring at her. She could feel the eyes of others on her all day and it sent chills down her spine. They should know that story was false, but being written about was still enough to make them stare at her.

Awkward.

That was another good way to describe today. The way people stared at her just served to confuse our poor protagonist. Some were simply confused, others were curious, a few appeared to be jealous, and a couple of students gave her a look that Nagisa could only think of as perverted. It's not as surprising as it used to be, but Nagisa hadn't truly accepted the fact that girls in this kind of school seemed to love the forbidden "girls' love". Who knew girl on girl was such a turn on in an all girls' school?

During lunch, Nagisa had reread the article, after vacuuming up her lunch, of course. The first time she read it this morning, she was so embarrassed by what she had _seen_ that she never actually _read_ the story.

To her dismay, she found she didn't actually hate the story. If it had been about anyone other than her, Nagisa believed she would have truly enjoyed it, although she would have preferred parts of it to be less… provocative. It was a 'love at first sight' type of story where Chikaru had confessed, but Nagisa rejected her, not wanting to be with another woman. It then went on about how they spent time together and Nagisa started to develop feelings for Chikaru, and when Lulim's president confessed again, Nagisa accepted. It was a pretty simple story, but the way it was written was enough to make it enjoyable.

She still wished to set the paper on fire, though.

Despite Nagisa's discomfort resulting from the short story, Tamao was actually thankful to Mika for writing it. She may not have liked it, but when people stared at her, Nagisa would at least know _why_, to some extent. If the story hadn't been written, anyone that looked in Nagisa's direction would force nervousness and uncertainty onto her best friend.

The article's timing was perfect. It took Nagisa's mind completely off of last night's confession. It allowed Nagisa to return to her normal school life and be with her friends without constantly fearing that she was being judged. Nagisa seemed to have completely forgotten about it due to her embarrassing situation. For that, Tamao truly was grateful.

Of course, it didn't hurt that embarrassment only made her Nagisa even cuter.

When the school day was over, Nagisa shot Tamao a defeated look. "Why are there so many perverts in this school?"

"I'm sure it's just because Nagisa is so cute." Tamao replied with what Nagisa dubbed Tamao's 'default smile'.

"Somehow, I don't think that's it." Nagisa wasn't particularly surprised by Tamao's response."Let's go find Hikari. She missed out on all the 'fun' this morning, so she at least won't give me hell for it."

"Maybe not, but Yaya will probably be with her, and I'm sure you know what she's going to do." Tamao pointed out, her smile growing a little at seeing Nagisa pout.

When the two best friends united with their fellow fourth year comrades as well as their tsundere and the incredibly shy Chiyo, Yaya had teased Nagisa as predicted, going so far as to cite the most perverted lines from the article just to incite a blush from the redhead.

Despite her formerly long-lost friend's teasing, she didn't fail to notice that Hikari seemed to be rather solemn. As the group walked through the hall, Nagisa slowed her step to walk next to the blond, who was a few paces behind the rest. "Something on your mind?"

Hikari jumped slightly and sharply turned her head to see Nagisa. _Whiplash._ She thought at seeing how quickly Hikari looked at her. "N-nothing's wrong."

"That's not what I asked." Nagisa replied calmly, not daring to mock a friend in a possible time of need. "So what happened?"

Hikari seemed nervous for a moment before showing Nagisa a small package that was gift wrapped. "This." She answered simply, looking more upset than before. Nagisa arched an eyebrow in confusion. _A present? Is it someone's birthday?_ Nagisa's thoughts paused for a moment. _I asked that before didn't I?_ She looked at Hikari, then the gift, then Hikari again. _Ah!_

"Amane-san?" Upon hearing the name of the woman of her desires, which is a weird way to describe something that involves Hikari, the blond lowered her head, giving a slight nod.

"I wanted to give this to her, but I was scared. What if she didn't accept it? She's never accepted a gift before, and I felt it wouldn't be any different for me. I was afraid my feelings wouldn't be accepted, and that she just saw me as another one of her fans and nothing more." Hikari seemed to make herself more depressed as she spoke. Nagisa was in her standard thinking post, one hand on her hip with the other raised so her index finger could tap her chin.

"Well, I can certainly understand why you would think that way, but I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"What makes you think that?" Hikari asked in disbelief.

"Because you're already ahead of all of those other girls." Nagisa gave Hikari a cheerful smile. "From what I hear, Amane has rarely spoken with any of the students outside of her club, other than the members of Spica's student council. Apparently, that's part of her charm or something. Unlike those other girls, you speak with her almost every morning, don't you? Sure, it's just a smile and a wave during the day, according to what you've told us during our tea parties, but that's still more than most of the girls here could even hope for." _I really doubt she doesn't speak to _anyone_ outside her club, but she probably speaks to people who aren't in her fan club, so her fans don't know about it. If she spoke to one of them, the girl would brag about it for days. I'd hate to be that popular._

Hikari was silent for a moment, staring down at the gift in her hand. Nagisa was starting to wonder what kind of gift Hikari would give Amane, so she stared at is as well. "Okay." Hikari said, more to herself than to Nagisa.

"Have a revelation?"

"I think so. I'll try again tomorrow."

"But doesn't she leave tomorrow morning for some event or competition or something? It said so in that newspaper." Nagisa frowned.

"Oh, you're right." Hikari frowned as well.

"That's not a problem." They both looked up to see their friends looking back at them with Yaya grinning confidently. "You'll just have to see her off tomorrow, and when she comes back, congratulate her and give her the gift, then everyone's happy and Hikari gets the girl." The blond naturally blushed.

"D-don't say it like that!" She cried out in protest despite knowing that it was futile.

"Then the prince and princess will climb upon their gallant steed and ride off into the sunset." Nagisa spoke as if she was narrating a play, and then struck a dramatic post with one hand over her heart and another arm outstretched in the direction of the setting sun.

"And they lived happily ever after." Tamao added playfully.

Hikari glared at her friends halfheartedly. When they all smiled at her, she sighed in defeat, smiling as well.

After what onlookers would call a strange scene, the group returned to Nagisa and Tamao's room, which had apparently become their base of operations.

"Tonight, I think we should mix things up a bit." Yaya spoke up after they were all seated around the table.

"What do you suggest?" Nagisa asked, eyeing her warily.

"Investigation." Yaya smiled mischievously, which made Tsubomi, Chiyo, and Hikari nervous.

"I-Investigate what?" Chiyo asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"The seven wonders of the Strawberry Dorms."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Gentleman! I bring you…CORN! I mean, Chapter 15! You too, ladies. Ahem. Awkward. Let's try this again.**

**A/N Take II: After nearly three months, I have finally returned. Holy hell I've been gone for a while and everything seemed to delay me from typing. First it was exams, then it was work, then it was more work, then I went to the hospital, then work again because of stupid inventory, and then there was a power outage. Plus, I totally didn't have a clue what to write about this chapter. It's hard to write something that isn't just so angsty. **

**Thank you those who reviewed or sent me messages wondering just where the hell I was. I haven't abandoned anything; there's just a conspiracy against me.**

**Now to respond to reviews I should have answered to two months ago!**

**lord orion123 – You might have jinxed it since this one took even longer than before. I might do more chapters from other characters' perspectives in the future, but I'm not sure yet. Also, I hope your dentist appreciates my efforts.**

**KittyAttack – Detective Tamao is on the case! No love for Freddie, huh?**

**YOUnoWHO and the cold raven – thanks for reading!**

**kaizer20 – The old man may be a hawk, but she felt safe behind her lies when surrounded by the swans of Astraea Hill. Lol c wut I did thar? Lord orion got it right about her lying. She uses it as a defense mechanism, even when she doesn't intend to. The time frame does work. She was impregnated in May of year A, which means she would have the miscarriage sometime in January or February of year B. She then spends several months in rehab after that, and moves to Japan later in the second half of year B. At this point, she has missed one year of school. She then attends Astraea Hill in the spring of year C, which is why she is one year older than Tamao, Yaya, and Hikari. It was mentioned before that she was a year older than them, and this is why. I'm not sure if I mentioned it anywhere in there, but she never really quit, but just stopped playing it once she entered high school. I probably forgot to put it in there somewhere. Oops.**

**romancejunkie – Will the power of friendship save the day? Only time will tell. Mwahaha. Also, I think I went with later rather than sooner. Whoops. **

**Faded Flight – I'm surprised someone would read all of that in one day. I've got nothing against pairing Nagisa with Shizuma or Tamao, but something new couldn't hurt, right?**

**doodles and silverFang – Glad to see people like this Nagisa. Thinking about it, it would suck if you guys didn't like her. Then you wouldn't like this fic and I'd be talking to myself…more than usual, anyway. A Miyuki/Nagisa pairing, huh? That'd be an interesting, unexpected pair. …*drools***

**Worth Meaning – To be fair, half of the plot is still coming from the anime, but it's good that people like it either way.**

**Guests – I won't be abandoning this story, most likely. There'll probably be long people where I'm like "HNNNNG" cause I can't think of what to put next, though.**

**And now we wait four months for chapter 16, right? Oh man, that would suck.**


	16. My Heart is Racing for the Wrong Reasons

Nagisa wasn't even sure how many times in the past few months that she had declared her life to officially be an anime, but now she was adding one more tick to the tally. "The seven wonders of-" such and such had practically become a staple in school anime, or at least the ones that didn't already have some supernatural happenings throughout the series. Add that to the fact that she was currently in a school and it only seemed completely logical that her life was, in fact, an anime.

_What a dull animated existence! I don't have the ability to fly or shoot lasers or anything! Oh, what a cruel world!_ At least she still had hope for the harem ending, though that seemed to be slipping from her grasp after finding out how many of her friends have crushes on each other or other women. It seemed her harem would never be achieved! Sugisaki would cry if he witnessed her failure.

Snapping back to her reality, Nagisa found herself in front of Shizuma's room with Tsubomi. Apparently, the plan was for the two of them to gather potential members to join their expedition while the others did other tasks.

Yaya and Hikari went back to their room to get supplies, but Nagisa couldn't think of anything they would need other than a flashlight or two. Chiyo had gone to her room to see if her roommate would join them. Nagisa didn't know the girl, but apparently she was a huge fan of the supernatural. Tamao had remained in their room to set up the tea, leaving only Tsubomi and Nagisa with nothing to do.

Thus, that was how Yaya had put them in charge of gathering more party members, though Yaya's not-so-subtle wink indicated that Yaya thought she was doing the redhead a favor. _If the ghosts don't kill her, I'll do it myself._

Being too impatient and annoyed for formalities, Nagisa entered Shizuma's room like she always did – barging in without a care in the world.

Oh how she should have considered the repercussions.

"…woah." Nagisa and Tsubomi stood dumbfounded, faces burning a deep crimson at the site before them. Usually, Nagisa had the uncanny timing of barging into their room just before things got frisky.

Today, her timing was a bit off.

They had a clear view of Miyuki and Shizuma on the bed with Miyuki hovering over the silver-haired bishoujo. Nagisa couldn't even process how that in itself was unusual, as she was more distracted by the fact that she could see _everything_. Normally, they were still dressed, or at least had the sheets over them. Today, there wasn't a sheet, blanket, or cloth of any type to obscure their view.

"Wha- buh...gah?" Nagisa couldn't make out the incoherent babble that was coming from her kouhai's mouth. If Nagisa hadn't managed to keep her jaw from dropping, she'd probably be doing the same.

"Well…" Nagisa could barely force the word out, but she wasn't even sure what to say. Deep down, she was thankful that the two older women were more embarrassed than she was, or else she would be dreading this night for the rest of the year, what with Shizuma's perverted and teasing personality. "It looks like you've already made plans tonight. Bye." She quickly grabbed Tsubomi and had to literally drag the frozen girl out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"That was certainly…" Nagisa couldn't even pull a joke out of that encounter, though after looking at Tsubomi, it seemed it wouldn't have done any good. The pinkette was still in shock, but she seemed to be able to at least move enough to point at the closed door and continue babbling nonsense.

"Tsubomi?" She tried shaking the girl, because that is clearly the most obvious action you should take when someone is in shock. "Snap out of i-" A moan from behind the door caused them both to freeze. "M-maybe we should go back." Tsubomi gave a very stiff nod.

The two walked back in awkward silence, neither so much as able to glance at the other girl. _Life just got awkward. Well, this _is _an anime. This scene had to come eventually._ Nagisa pinched the bridge of her nose. "What a day."

Before returning to Nagisa's room, the redhead decided to try their luck with Chihaya and Mizushima. Otherwise, they would return empty-handed and a certain student of Spica would ridicule them to no end.

Just as she was about to knock on the door, she heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor from within the room. Acting on instinct, she immediately entered the room to make sure her friends were alright.

Nagisa was never an idiot. In fact, many people considered her to be quite smart albeit a bit clueless at times. Despite how smart she may be in most cases, French excluded, there were just some things she had to learn the hard.

Knowing not to barge into people's rooms at night was one of those lessons she wished she had picked up quicker. On the floor were none other than Chihaya and Mizushima, and their position made it obvious that they had fallen off the bed – the same bed. Now, Nagisa could try to pass it off as one falling at an awkward angle that caused the other to fall, but the fact that Mizushima was currently straddling Chihaya's hips cause that argument to break before it was even thought.

Well, at least they were still dressed, so there's one saving grace.

The two looked back at Nagisa, who just stared stupidly at them. Chihaya looked surprised and a bit embarrassed. Nagisa couldn't quite tell given that the girl's face looked quite similar to how bored she always looked, but Nagisa could swear that Mizushima looked at least a little annoyed that someone had interrupted them.

"I uh see that you two are um…busy." She tried to think of something else to say, but decided to cut her losses and escape as quickly as possible. "Good night." She quickly shut the door and turned to face a confused Tsubomi.

"Don't tell me they were-"

"We never speak of this evening to anyone. Ever."

* * *

><p>"So everyone you two asked was busy?" Tamao asked. Nagisa and Tsubomi both nodded their heads. They were gathered around the table, waiting for the head sister to finish her rounds.<p>

"Busy with what?" Yaya asked. Neither of them answered. She and Tamao looked at each other, both confused, but neither of them pursued the matter.

"What about your roommate, Chiyo? Is she not coming?" Nagisa decided to shift the conversation away from herself and Tsubomi, mostly to get the images out of her head.

"No. She had already fallen asleep before I returned." Chiyo sighed. "She would have enjoyed it."

"Well, at least you'll have a good story to brag about tomorrow." Nagisa turned to Yaya. "What about you two? What supplies did you need to get that required _both_ of you?" Oh, Nagisa surely knew why they both went, and she certainly wasn't going to be grateful for it.

"Just these." Yaya placed two flashlights on the table. "Neither of us knew where they were, so we both had to search for them. Strangely enough, one of them somehow ended up in my sock drawer." _Damn. I don't think she's lying either. Was I wrong?_

Leaving the matter alone, she decided to ask a question that had repeatedly slipped her mind all day. "What are the seven wonders anyway? I haven't heard any of them."

…

Apparently, there were more than just seven rumors, seeing as everyone had at least one wonder that was unique to the others.

"That's quite a number of mysteries." Nagisa frowned.

"Maybe we should try and eliminate a few of them." Hikari suggested. "I had heard that someone disproved the 'mirror on the landing' wonder last year. It was just a prank someone did on the person who spread the rumor."

"I think we can also disprove the 'thirteenth stair to the attic' and the 'changing stairs in the lobby' wonders. They're pretty much the same thing – someone counted the last step going up and didn't count it going down."

"I think we can also throw out 'the seventh door." Nagisa spoke up. "It's about that room at the end of the hall, right? The reason people here movement in there is because Shizuma goes in there on occasion to clean it. That's all." _Not completely true, but not a lie either._

"So what does that leave us left with?" Tsubomi asked.

"Let's see…" Tamao looked down at a list that Nagisa hadn't even noticed. "There's still the ghost in the hallway, the piano that plays by itself, the laughter in the meeting room, the body in the basement, and the ghost chef."

"Somehow, 'the five wonders' doesn't really sound that impressive." Yaya sighed. Her enthusiasm was already gone.

"I didn't know this place had a basement." Nagisa certainly never remembered anyone mentioning it.

"I'm pretty sure it's just used for storage. We can't even get down there without the key anyway." _Poor Yaya sounds so bored now._

"We still have four wonders we can investigate." Hikari said in an attempt to motivate Yaya. "They are the most interesting ones as well."

"What are these rumors anyway? I mean, the laughter in the meeting room and the piano playing by itself are obvious, but what's this about ghosts?" Nagisa saw out of the corner of her eye that Chiyo paled a little. _Someone_ in this room didn't like ghosts, apparently.

Yaya held the flashlight under her chin and flashed it on her face. "There once-" She was cut off when she had to dodge a pillow.

"That's not funny!" Tsubomi whined. _Okay, so two people don't like ghosts._ She looked to her side, and noticed that Hikari still had her arm stretched from throwing the pillow. _So _three_ people don't like ghosts._

"Oh, come on, guys. It's not like these are spirits that would curse us or plan to possess our bodies so they can remember what it's like to be among the living again." Nagisa said offhandedly, trying not to laugh with three girls glaring at her. "What?" She asked, playing innocent. She could practically feel killer intent.

"You aren't scared of the supernatural?" Tamao asked, almost sounding disappointed, which, of course, made Nagisa worry. _She wanted to see her cute Nagisa get scared, I bet._

"Nope. I'm more scared of things I can see, like bears and crazy redheads with hatchets. _That's_ scary."

"Bears?"

"Oh, they might seem cute from far away, but get too close and bam! Game over."

"You think they're cute?" Hikari asked.

"Have you ever seen a baby panda or polar bear? They're adorable!" Nagisa looked around in confusion when everyone just sort of shook their heads because of her. "What?"

* * *

><p>The first wonder that they decided to investigate was the ghost in the hall, seeing as how it was the closest to Nagisa and Tamao's room, being the only rumor on the second floor. The story behind it was that apparently, students who walked through here late at night would hear the sound of a girl crying.<p>

They didn't have to wait around long before the sound of a girl's cries echoed throughout the hall. Chiyo and Tsubomi immediately latched onto Nagisa's arms, while Hikari quickly grabbed Yaya. While not as scared as the three of them, Nagisa was certainly surprised that it was actually true. Tamao, Yaya, and Nagisa all scanned the area, trying to find where the cries were coming from.

Tamao eventually flashed one of the flashlights onto the plant by the stairs and saw a cat sitting next to it. Upon seeing this, the three shaken girls sighed in relief.

"A cat? How boring." Yaya pouted.

"Was it really just a cat?" Tamao pondered out loud, watching the cat run away.

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked, though she preferred to think whatever Tamao was thinking would be wrong.

"Well, that particular rumor has been around even before I transferred here. Who could have been keeping a cat in here for several years?"

"Maybe _that's_ the real wonder?" Nagisa joked. Everyone gave her a deadpan look. "What? I can't be funny every time." She deadpanned back.

"Let's just move on." Everyone walked down the stairs, leaving Nagisa all alone. The redhead pouted, but quickly followed after them.

The second rumor they chose was the piano that played by itself. They waited around in the lounge for about an hour, but when nothing happened, they gave up on it and went to the meeting room. Nagisa wasn't really sure what they were expecting to find. Was there just supposed to be random laughter? She couldn't remember where, but she remembered seeing something about a similar rumor that was debunked when it was found out that it was something scraping against the window.

Unfortunately, there was nothing against the window that could be responsible, so it really freaked the hell out of Nagisa when there was a stranger's giggling coming from within the room. She looked to her friends and saw that they were just as disturbed as her, if not more so. They all jumped when the innocent giggling became maniacal laughter and Nagisa thought she was going to piss herself. She considered telling everyone that they should run, but just as quickly as the laughter started, it stopped.

"W-what the hell was that?!" Tsubomi was the first to speak, having been hiding behind Hikari, who was behind Nagisa, who was behind Tamao.

"I-is anyone p-possessed?" Nagisa tried to joke, but her shaky voice cracked and completely lacked her usually humor.

Yaya moved up to the table and looked back at the group. "W-we're here to investigate s-so let's look around." She tried to calm herself as she spoke, but she was still unnerved. Despite that, she was grinning. This was what she had been hoping to find, after all. The group reluctantly stopped hiding behind each other and looked around the room.

It only took a few minutes for Hikari to speak up. "I found it!" She was ecstatic. Under the table, she had found a tape recorded taped to the underside of the desk. From how much tape was wound back, it seemed that there was a few hours of silence on the tape before the laughing played.

"I can't believe a tape recorder nearly made me piss myself in fear." Nagisa mumbled, her face buried in her hands. She didn't know who did it, but she hoped that person experienced terrifying nightmares.

"I thought you were only scared of things you could see." Yaya smirked.

"Oh, come on! That was horrifying! That's not even fair!" Nagisa whined. She knew she had lost whatever game they were playing. "I don't even want to investigate the last one anymore."

"Don't be such a wuss. We've already disproven one of them and solved the other two; we should at least finish the last one."

"Can't we just leave it for future generations?" Nagisa just wanted to curl up in her bed and pretend this night never happened. The only good thing that come from this is having a nightmare tonight instead of ending up dreaming something perverted due to what happened earlier. Knowing her luck, she'd end up dreaming about both.

"I-I think we should keep going. I-it's scary, but it's also fun." Chiyo said weakly. Nagisa frowned. _I have no support!_

"Masochist."

"Eh?!"

* * *

><p>Nagisa was laying in Tamao's bed, both of them disturbed by tonight's events. They both knew they would have nightmares, especially after that incident in the kitchen. Nagisa hated knives more than hatchets now.<p>

The rumor had been a standard ghost story – a young chef had been working here for a few years and died in some accident in the kitchen. Unable to move on, her soul haunted the kitchen. They had waited in the kitchen for a while, and eventually, all the pots and pans began to rattle. Shortly after that, a girl dressed as a chef appeared, wielding a large butcher knife.

It was only after they had fled the kitchen had they learned that it was a prank set up by _Chiyo_ of all people – the little devil! Well, it was mostly her roommate's plan, since she was the one disguised as the chef. She had tied strings to everything to rattle them all at once as well. They were both lucky they were so cute, or else Nagisa might have strangled them both.

Nagisa wished it could have all just ended there, but no, Yaya had to bring up another rumor they would be investigating. The only good news was that they would be doing it in the morning, since the rumor was about an area outside the dorms, near the library.

Yaya called it the 'Crying Trees' wonder, and said she had even experienced it herself before. The wonder was that, depending on where you were, you could hear a girl's cry coming from inside the forest. She said the strangest thing was that those who experienced it more than once said that it sounded like a different girl each time they heard it. What also made it strange was that the wonder had stopped occurring lately.

Whatever the case was, Nagisa wasn't looking forward to it. Was it too much to ask for some peaceful days?

* * *

><p><strong>We interrupt this regularly scheduled program for an OMAKE!<strong>

**Regularly scheduled? Pfft. That's a laugh. I couldn't schedule this stuff if I uh…had a calendar!**

…**or an effective punchline.**

**Anyway, I wanted to give this a shot after reading doodles' review and figured hey, why not? It wouldn't really work in the story's canon, but it's too fun of an idea to simply ignore.**

**OMAKE: Stresses, Duties, and Obligations**

Miyuki sat alone in the meeting room, rubbing her temples. These migraines were coming much too frequently these days and she wasn't sure if they would ever end.

She groaned in pain and annoyance as she lowered her hands, the bright lights momentarily causing her head to throb. After a moment, Miyuki took a glance around the empty room. The seat that Spica's president had sat in was still pushed back haphazardly after the blond had suddenly stood up in her usual, overdramatic protest. The other chair that was previously occupied by Lulim's president was neatly pushed back into place so delicately that it was like no one had been sitting there in the first place.

The previously annoying student council meetings had become downright infuriating. That insufferable blond seemed to intentionally start an argument with her every meeting, and it was always over the same thing!

"We can't start the meeting without Etoile-sama!" She would protest whenever the weary blunette would so much as attempt to start the meeting.

She would love to tell her fellow leader off, but she had to choose her words carefully, despite how often she was drawn into these arguments. _Clearly_, Shizuma would not be participating in any of these meetings, so what was the point of the argument in the first place? Of course, Shizuma was dear to her, and she knew the woman had suffered, but now _she_ was the one suffering while trying to cover for her friend.

It's not like she didn't understand Shion's point; rules are rules, after all. Even so, nothing was getting accomplished! Couldn't she see that they were behind on _everything_? They simply weren't prepared for _anything_! The party for the new students in the dorm wasn't prepared at all, and she still had to worry about room duty day, but she couldn't do anything about that until after the earlier events were taken care of! To make matters worse, she was falling further behind on the paperwork each day. It didn't help that she had her own work in addition to the paperwork that Shizuma had been neglecting.

Miyuki sighed. She just couldn't get a break, could she? With all of the work building up, she wasn't sure which of the three women was getting on her nerves the most. Shizuma was giving her more work to do each day as her best friend went off to do whatever perverted acts she wanted, Shion was causing the council work to back up by being uncooperative, and Chikaru, while not doing anything harmful, certainly did nothing to help the situation.

Yeah, Chikaru probably frustrated her the most, despite doing the least. At least Miyuki understood why Shion and Shizuma were acting the way they were, but she just couldn't understand Lulim's president at all. The raven-haired woman almost seemed to _enjoy_ watching their arguments! Why did Lulim have to be so carefree? Miyuki could swear that she once saw Chikaru moving her hands like she was controlling puppets while watching the two of them argue.

Well, at least _someone_ was having fun in these circumstances! Everyone seemed to have their own reasons for doing what they wanted, and didn't seem to want to see things from her viewpoint. Why didn't anyone see how much she was struggling just trying to get something done?

_Doesn't anyone care about how I feel?_

Miyuki returned to the council room about an hour later, ungracefully dropping an oversized stack of paper on the desk. If the others weren't going to use this room for anything _productive_, she might as well try to catch up on this damned paperwork.

As she began the agonizingly repetitive task of signing her approval or disapproval on the various documents, she thought back to how things had gone since making student council president. She had expected there to be a lot of work and some difficulty, but this wasn't how she imagined it would go at all. Even though it was still spring, Miyuki knew this year would be a disaster. Looking back, the only thing that seemed to go well was when she showed that year four transfer student around.

A smile stretched across her lips for the first time in what felt like days. She remembered _that_ day quite clearly. Everything about Aoi Nagisa – from her appearance to her personality – seemed to be a complete contradiction to the culture this school had established for decades. It was actually a bit refreshing to spend time with someone so full of energy.

Her current task was quickly forgotten as the president thought about the enigma that was Nagisa. It might just be the paperwork talking, but she found it strange that someone could be so cheerful and constantly form smiles for no apparent reason.

Like she had done for the other students of Miator, Miyuki had read Nagisa's medical file as it was required for her to know about any medical conditions she may have to deal with. She didn't know what happened before or between Nagisa's previous hospital visits, but based on what she was hospitalized for, Miyuki could only imagine, and she certainly didn't imagine it to be anything pleasant.

She didn't know the full story, but based on what she did know, it only made it even stranger that Nagisa was so energetic and cheerful. She certainly couldn't see herself behaving in such a way if she had been in the younger girl's shoes. As much as she wanted to, however, she didn't dare ask about it. She felt that she had already intruded on the girl's personal life enough as it is.

Before she could think on it any further, the doors were suddenly flung open. "Yo, Miyuki!" _Think of the devil and she shall appear?_ "Woah! Where did all of that come from? I thought you said you had caught up. You should have told me there was still more." The redhead sounded like she was attempted to chastise Miyuki, but it ended up being a cute whine instead. Nagisa moved across the room and stood next to her senior, crossing her arms and giving the older woman a pout that the blunette thought was supposed to be her attempt at a scowl. "I told you I would help you out, you know."

"It slipped my mind." Very few people would ever truly believe that Miyuki of all people would have forgotten any work she was responsible for. The truth was that she just didn't want to take advantage of Nagisa's offer. No one outside of the student council had ever willingly offered to help her with anything before. She always gave others the impression that she was on top of everything she was tasked with and just didn't need anyone's help. Now that someone actually offered, she was reluctant to accept it. She didn't want to abuse the assistance.

"Well that's just a clear sign that you're working too hard." Nagisa replied with a grin, her voice full of amusement as she thought of Miyuki doing something so airheaded. It was just too hard for the redhead to imagine! "Good thing you have such an adorable kouhai to help you out, huh?" Nagisa pulled up an abandoned chair and plopped down next to Miyuki.

"You don't need to do that. I can handle it." Miyuki's protests were swiftly waved off as Nagisa took part of the stack and claimed it as her own.

"Nonsense! You'll be here all night if you do this alone." She gave Miyuki a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I won't try and slip in another proposal for All-You-Can-Eat Pie Tuesdays again, though if you happen to approve it, I won't argue against it."

_It would be nice to actually have some work completed for a change._ Miyuki reluctantly accepted Nagisa's help, and the two spent the day signing away, Nagisa occasionally making a joke about whatever she was signing.

When they had finally finished, the sun had already set. "Time flies when you're having fun." Nagisa joked as she did an undignified full-body stretch. Miyuki also felt rather stiff after sitting still for so long. She supposed it was better than running around in a hopeless search for the school's most elusive woman. "Something funny?" Nagisa asked.

"Hm?" Miyuki hadn't been aware that she was smiling. "I just remembered the first time you and Shizuma met." Nagisa's response was the same cute pout from before.

"Your friend is a pervert." Shizuma and Nagisa did not get along _at all_. They met right before dinner on Nagisa's first day, and Shizuma immediately tried to flirt with the transfer student. Nagisa's immediate reaction was to actually _slap_ Shizuma and call her a pervert. It was a surprising reaction to pretty much everyone, but statistically, there had to be someone out there that wouldn't be taken in by the Etoile's 'charms'.

Unfortunately for Nagisa, most of the older students were offended that someone would _dare_ to strike their beloved Etoile-sama, although there were some students who found the whole thing amusing. In fact, it was probably the only thing that all three student council presidents had agreed on in months. Miyuki had hoped it would knock some sense into Shizuma, but alas, everything remained the same.

Lost in her thoughts, she missed most of Nagisa's rant, though it seemed to be the same one she gave the last time Miyuki had mentioned the Etoile. She was saying something about getting to know someone before you get all touchy-feely, whatever that meant. Nagisa made sure that her story was full of embellished hand gestures.

Miyuki shook her head at her friend's antics. How someone could still have so much energy after spending their entire day doing paper work, Miyuki would never know. As Nagisa continued her little tirade, Miyuki tried rolling her stiff shoulders in hopes of loosening them a bit. She jumped slightly when she felt someone place their hands on her shoulders.

"Wow! Your shoulders are really stiff! You've been working too hard." Nagisa chastised her from behind.

"It comes with the job." Miyuki's eyes widened a bit when she felt Nagisa begin to give her a massage. Well, _attempt_ to give her one, anyway. It was more like a series of random and somewhat awkward gropes on her shoulders that made it obvious that Nagisa was just winging it. Still, it didn't feel too bad, though it was definitely awkward.

Nagisa smiled triumphantly when she felt Miyuki relax, apparently having some sort of success without actually knowing what she was doing. Of course, if Miyuki asked, she would certainly deny her obvious ignorance when it came to massaging.

"Say, Nagisa." They were alone and chances were that no one would be coming in here, so it seemed as good a time as any to ask. "How do you always manage to stay so happy? Even after spending the day doing something so boring, your smile never faltered."

"Were you staring at my lips the entire time?" Nagisa asked playfully. Miyuki was glad she had her back to the younger girl, lest she tease her more for blushing. "You know, I'm not always happy." _Huh?_

"But I've never seen you with anything other than a smile, aside from when you pretend to pout." Well, there were also the times she glared at Shizuma, but there wasn't any point in starting Nagisa on another one of her rants.

"Well that's obvious!" She suddenly wrapped her arms around Miyuki. "I'm not happy all the time, but I am naturally happy around you." Miyuki's face was flushed red, and for the first time in a long time, it wasn't because she was frustrated.

"A-around me?" _Doesn't she understand how easily that could be misconstrued?_ "Why?"

"Why? Who wouldn't be happy to be around the person they like?" _I-is that a confession?!_ "But you know…" Nagisa rested her chin on top of Miyuki's head. "It's hard to keep smiling when you keep worrying me. You've been under a lot of stress lately, haven't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I knew the responsibilities when I took the position."

"I'm sure you did, but there's no rule that says you have to do it all alone. Well, I don't think there is. I certainly never read the rules." That forced a smile out of Miyuki. "I don't care if there is a rule like that anyway! You're always working hard, but you should really learn to rely on others. I meant what I said – I want to help. I know you're more competent than I am, but there's nothing wrong with asking for help. No one will think any less of you for it." Nagisa chuckled. "Besides, it's more fun to do stuff with other people, and it lets me spend more time with you!"

"An ulterior motive?" Miyuki unintentionally asked out loud.

"I'm pretty sure my intentions were obvious from the start. I want to help you - the benefit of spending more time with you is just extra incentive to do so. It's a total win-win for everyone!"

"Don't you mean you want to spend time with me, and helping me is just an excuse?"

"Yeah, but the way I said it makes me seem less selfish than I actually am." Miyuki looked up at Nagisa, who looked down in return. Nagisa was offering her that same smile she had become accustomed to lately. Miyuki didn't need to look through Nagisa's tinted frames to see that she meant it.

"Thank you, Nagisa."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Did I end that too soon? I bet some of you feel like you just got trolled. Do they kiss? Do they just smile? Who knows! It's one of those stories where you can imagine how it went from there. Yeah, totally intentional. Probably. It was kind of weird to write, but I could totally see this happening if things had happened differently. It's sort of like the results of a "What if…?" had Nagisa been shown around by Miyuki, or had she reacted differently to meeting Shizuma. It just seemed like a fun idea.**

**So that's chapter 16, and it only took two months! I had to get one chapter out before the new semester started…even though it started a week ago. Oops. We've got two elements of a Slice of Life school anime – mysterious wonders and accidental perversion. I guess the girls of Astraea Hill aren't all so innocent, and those that are least innocent become more than generic background characters, huh? This probably wasn't one of my better chapters and it was kind of short if you take out the omake, but that's probably what I get for trying to do comedy.  
><strong>

**Oh, and for those of you who don't know who Sugisaki is, he's the protagonist of Seitokai no Ichizon, one of my favorite anime of all time.  
><strong>

**Look at all these glorious reviews! *drools***

**Faded Flight – Yesss, give in to the obsession. Embrace your desires… bwahaha! Something like that, anyway. The doctor said it was either an ulcer, or I was just trying to score some painkillers. I don't think I'm a druggie, though. **

**The reader that wanders – Abandon it? No way! Get lazy, procrastinate, or otherwise get distracted? That's right up my alley. I try to include as many characters as I can in a chapter, but I won't always be able to get them all in each one. Well, not logically, anyway.**

**lord orion123 – Me? Foreshadow? No one would ever see that coming – me thinking ahead. It might be worth remembering, or maybe I'm just planning a plot hole to make you guys hope for something that never happens. I am evil, ya know. I like Tamao. You never know what's behind that sweet smile of hers. I'll most likely bring Mika in again, probably a few times, actually. I have…ideas. Shocking, I know. I went back and changed a few things, mostly in the first few chapters so it would make sense. Took out useless filler as well. Also fixed some typos, but it's generally the same.**

**silverFang – You were right, they were having fun. Too much, apparently.**

**the cold raven – I put it a shelf lower for you, but only one shelf.**

**kaizer20 – I was over there, then I was over here, then I wandered over yonder, then I got trapped in a well with little Timmy or whatever his name was, then I was in SPAAAAACEEE! Also, it may or may not be Chikaru, but I'll never tell.**

**CXrahadron – It's been a while since I watched Shuffle! and I can't remember her ever using a hatched, but then again, it's been years. I was actually referring to Rena from Higurashi. She's crazy.**

**romancejunky – Who knows what Mystery-san/chan will do? Well, I do…I think. Maybe. Probably. Everyone thinks I'm so slow! All my updates don't take that long! Just half that long.**

**KittyAttack – Quality? Length? Pshaw! This ain't the right place for that stuff. Yeah, it's like he's more of the tech guy than the actor. **

**doodles – That's why I was drooling. It's a good sign if that was a good omake. Totally got the idea for it from just you mentioning the pairing, and I thought it'd be pretty amusing. **

**shameka – Well, wait no more! Until you finish this chapter, anyway. Then wait another three months, most likely. **


	17. Are You the Antagonist?

The group stared at her incredulously as Nagisa held her sides, laughing boisterously. Really? Of all the things that could have become a ghost story, _this _was one of them? It was just too amusing. Had she not been so disturbed last night, she probably would have realized it sooner.

This morning had been a rough one. Lack of sleep had made Nagisa cranky, and the dreams she had whenever she managed to fall asleep only made things worse. If she wasn't having nightmares of crazed butchers, it was awkward dreams of her in one of the two positions she had walked in on last night, and the girl she was with changed each time. If anyone knew why she had trouble sleeping, they would understand why she had refused to make contact with anyone all morning.

From what she could gather the few times she dared to look at her friends, Tamao seemed exhausted from lack of sleep while Tsubomi seemed a bit…_jittery_, most likely a result from the same combination of awkwardness and horror that Nagisa had experienced.

When the group gathered, the three that had the roughest time trying to sleep glared at the apparently well-rested Yaya. In fact, she seemed to be full of more energy than ever before. Chiyo also seemed fine for the most part, though there was an obvious nervousness, as if she expected to be attacked. Nagisa had given Chiyo a smile that promised forgiveness.

Forgiveness, and plans of getting some sweet, sweet revenge.

Hikari hadn't joined them. Nagisa had assumed that the blond had been really spooked, but according to Yaya, Hikari had left early to go see Amane off. Nagisa had completely forgotten about what she and Hikari had recently spoken about. _Whoops._

Now the five of them were gathered in front of the closed doors of the library, three of them wondering if the redhead had finally lost it, and one of them already knowing she never had it to begin with.

"Maybe she really is possessed." Yaya muttered flatly.

"N-no, that's not it. I just realized how stupid this rumor is, e-even though it's the only - the only one that's actually kind of true." Nagisa said as she tried to force herself to stop laughing.

"How so?"

"Well there used to be someone who would cause all those noises, but the reason they've stopped happening is because she's been buh…" Nagisa's voice quickly died off as memories of last night came to her. "She's been _busy._" She mumbled at the end, looking away from the group.

"So the 'Crying Trees' rumor is nothing more than someone goofing off in their free time?" _Looks like these rumors are really good at raising Yaya's hopes and immediately crushing them. Even Tamao's sources had been wrong about these, and that almost never happens.  
><em>

"Something like that, yeah." _You have no idea._

"Son of a-" Yaya's potential profanity was cut off by the fast-approaching sound of galloping hooves. The group naturally turned their attention towards the direction of the approaching horse, soon seeing Amane emerge from behind the tree line. "Well, that's new."

"You all…" Amane slowed her horse to a stop in front of the group. "You are Hikari-san's friends, are you not?" She asked, immediately recognizing Yaya as the girl that Hikari almost always seemed to be with.

"We are, but…" Tamao leaned to the side to get a better look behind Amane, noticing the lack of a blond-haired girl with the horse rider. "Is Hikari not with you?"

"You seem panicked." Nagisa added, noticing that the taller student's usually stoic expression showed trace signs of worry that the redhead was able to notice. "Did something happen?"

"I have been searching for Hikari-san. I am normally able to pick her out in the crowd when I leave, but when I wasn't able to find her this morning, I found myself feeling a bit…uneasy." Amane wasn't sure how to explain it. When had she even started intentionally looking for Hikari in the crowd? Why was her failure to find the blond troubling her so much, to the point of rushing away to search for her? She…she didn't understand that foreboding feeling, like she would have regretted it if she didn't see Hikari before leaving.

"In the crowd? You mean at the rally? Why were you looking for her there?" Yaya asked uneasily, looking a bit pensive. "Shouldn't you have already seen her before that even started?"

"What do you mean?" Tsubomi spoke up. "You said it yourself yesterday, didn't you? Hikari should see Amane-san off in the morning, and give her _that_, whatever _that_ is, after Amane-san returns later, right? Why would they have already met in private?"

"Last night, after out little adventure-" Cue more glares directed at Yaya, though they were weakened by their concern for their apparently missing friend. "-Hikari mentioned that she had gotten a letter from Amane-san stating that the two of them should meet before she has to leave for her competition…or whatever it was." Yaya looked around at the surprised group and frowned. That frown deepened when she saw that, among those that were surprised, Amane was one of them. "You…you did write that letter, didn't you?"

"I…" Amane's feeling of unease spread to the other students assembled as she answered. "I have written no such letter."

"…uh oh."

* * *

><p>Sister Hamasaka was having a rather peculiar day. It had started off innocent enough. She had been taking a leisurely stroll around campus as she so usually did when the weather was as peaceful as it was today. Sure, there was still a little fog, but that wouldn't stop this head sister from getting some fresh air!<p>

As she had been walking along, she came across two students that were fighting; however, it wasn't the type of fighting that she was used to seeing. Fighting was a rather rare occurrence on Astraea Hill, but whenever it actually did happen, it usually consisted of two or more girls shouting back and forth with the occasional delicate slap if one of the arguers were feeling bold, or just really angry. Overall, it was an event that just seemed to never happen in this peaceful school.

If she were to use that as a frame of reference, the actions of the two students she encountered on the forest floor could not be considered fighting. No, the only word that she had found that could adequately describe the confrontation between the two girls was a _brawl_. Punching, kicking, scratching, _biting_ – whatever the two could do to inflict harm upon the other, they went for it. In all of the undisclosed number of years she had been a sister of this school, she had _never_ seen her students doing anything so _barbaric_!

The head sister leaned back in her office chair, gently rubbing her temples in a poor attempt to fight off the headache she was experiencing. For the first time in years, she was feeling her age, as she just did not know how to handle this kind of situation, simply because it had never happened before. She had no cases of such violence in the past to reference, and her standard punishment didn't seem appropriate. Having the two of them clean the cafeteria together would probably result in another brawl.

Sister Hamasaka sighed wearily as she glanced at the six girls in the room. She first looked at the two girls standing on the other side of her desk, who were exchanging rather heated glares. Aoi Nagisa and Kenjo Kaname had been quite viciously attacking each other when the head sister had found them, and both of them currently looked worse for wear.

Their uniforms were covered in dirt, leaves, twigs, and there were even traces of blood. There were also tears scattered on both uniforms, likely from small rocks hidden throughout the ground. The biggest damage to either uniform seemed to be only hanging on by a single thread- oh, no, it just fell off. The head sister noticed a few scars on the arm, as well as an armband over her wrist, but the two girls currently glaring at each other didn't seem to notice the sleeve falling.

Other than the damaged uniforms, both girls' hair seemed to be a mess, which was more noticeable on Aoi-san as her hair was longer. They both had a few bruises here and there, but they each had a few unique injuries. Aoi-san's face had a few cut marks that ran parallel across her cheek, most likely from being clawed at some point. The left half of her sunglasses seemed to be broken. The frame was barely in one piece, and the left lens was completely missing, leaving Nagisa to have to keep her left eye closed. The redhead was just lucky the glass didn't break into her eye. There was some bruising around the side of the eye as well, indicating that Aoi-san was likely punched there when her sunglasses were broken.

Kenjo-san's face seemed to be mostly unharmed, except for the busted lip, indicating that she had been hit in the mouth at some point. The biggest injury she seemed to have suffered was the bite on her arm. Sister Hamasaka was still surprised that one of her students had actually bitten another. The bite seemed to have been a strong one, as it had broken skin and caused bleeding. When she had found the two of them rolling on the ground, Aoi-san's jaw was firmly locked around Kenjo-san's arm. All in all, it didn't look like a good experience.

"**ENOUGH!**" The voices of both Rokujo Miyuki and Tomori Shion echoed through the room, apparently putting a stop to some bickering between the two troublemakers while the head sister was distracted. The head sister, like anyone who dealt with any of the student council members, knew all too well about how often the two presidents would bicker. Knowing this, it was strange to see the two presidents so synchronized, both of them giving sharp glares to the troublemaker affiliated with their respective school. The head sister noticed that Rokujo-san's glare had lightened up a bit when compared to Tomori-san's, likely due to the outburst between her and Aoi-san.

"_Why would you do something like this, Aoi-san?!"_

"_Why? Why?! You of all people should know why I did what I did!" _

Until the synchronized shout with Tomori-san, Rokujo-san had remained quiet after Aoi-san's response. Regardless, the two injured students immediately straightened up under the threatening glares of the two presidents, and the head sister was glad she called for them both as soon as she brought the other four to her office.

Speaking of which, the sister glanced at the last two students in the room, who had remained silent for quite some time. Ootori Amane and Konohana Hikari had both been on scene when the brawl had started, and Ootori-san had helped the head sister separate Aoi-san and Kenjo-san. Rather brave, considering most of the students that attended this school wouldn't have known how to act in that kind of situation. The head sister still wasn't sure how to act, given the circumstances.

The sister had decided that it would only be fair if she had gotten the story from each of the four girls that had been present, and part of her wished she hadn't asked. If she hadn't asked for anyone's side of the story, she could have just suspended Aoi-san and Kenjo-san for a few days for _fighting_, and things would have been left at that. Unfortunately, the whole reason that this has become a predicament is because there was more than just a fight going on.

From what she could gather from the collected stories, all of this started with some fabricated letter written to Konohana-san. For some unexplained reason, Kenjo-san had written the letter to call out Konohana-san to an isolated location, pretending the letter was from Ootori-san. At the time of the meeting, Ootori-san had some 'bad premonition' which caused her to seek out Konohana-san.

During her search for Konohana-san, Ootori-san came upon Aoi-san and some of Aoi-san's friends. After explaining the situation, Ootori-san and the rest of the gathered group were informed of the letter by Nanto Yaya. Ootori-san denied having written the letter, and since Nanto-san did not know where the letter had stated for Konohana-san to supposedly meet with Ootori-san, the group split up in order to track down Konohana-san. Nanto-san had taken Okuwaka Tsubomi to search for Konohana-san in Spica's academic building, Suzumi Tamao and Tsukidate Chiyo had gone to search the dorms, while Aoi-san joined Ootori-san in searching the forest.

When Aoi-san and Ootori-san found Konohana-san, the blond was pinned to the ground by Kenjo-san. Kenjo-san had denied this, saying that she had been there by coincidence and tripped, but the rather colorful response from Aoi-san, and the fact that Konohana-san was hiding from Kenjo-san by standing as far away from her as possible and behind Ootori-san, led the head sister to believe it was no accident.

Accident or not, as soon as Aoi-san had seen Konohana-san pinned down, she attacked Kenjo-san, and the events between then and when the head sister had found them were just the descriptions of the brawl. Kenjo-san's assault on Konohana-san with unknown intentions, followed by Aoi-san's assault on Kenjo-san for reasons that were probably unknown to most of the people in the room, but at least known to the head sister and apparently Rokujo-san, made this all more complicated than it needed to be. Of course, Sister Hamasaka would have preferred if this incident had never occurred, but it was too late to do anything about that now.

"What do you two suggest their punishment be?" The head sister turned her attention to the two student council presidents. Neither of them had any built-in ideology of what acts would receive what level of punishment, and although she felt there could be some bias, it would at least give her some idea as to where things should go. Upon seeing how deeply the two presidents considered the sister's question, she felt they would at least give an honest answer.

"I would say they should at least each have a week of academic probation. During this time, since the two of them most likely won't be able to stay in the same room together by themselves, Kenjo-san should be tasked with scrubbing the floor in Spica's building while Aoi-san scrubs the floors in Miator's buildings." Tomori-san suggested first, returning the glare that Kenjo Kaname sent her way.

"Why punish them with academic probation instead of expelling them?" Rokujo-san had asked the question on the head sister's mind.

"Despite the fact that they've both made rather stupid decisions,-" This earned Tomori-san glares from both Kenjo-san and Aoi-san, though she ignored both. "-Spica's student council does still need all of its members, considering we're still making up for wasted time from the beginning of this year." Rokujo-san frowned at that. "From what I've heard, it doesn't seem fair that Aoi-san should have a more severe punishment than Kenjo-san either. I'll be giving Kenjo-san plenty of work as well, and I'm sure you or Etoile-sama will have some work for Aoi-san as well."

Seeing the frowns on both Aoi-san and Kenjo-san's faces, the head sister cleared her throat. "For now, you two will be placed on academic probation while you each scrub the school you attend. Any further punishment will be decided at the end of the week. Do I make myself clear?" After receiving two nods, she continued. "I want you both to return to your rooms…separately." She added the last word as an afterthought, not wanting another fight in the halls. "Dismissed."

Kenjo Kaname wasted no time in leaving, not sparing a glance at Ootori-san or Konohana-san as she stepped out. The two presidents followed behind her, ensuring there was no violence. As Aoi-san moved to leave as well, Konohana-san whispered something to the redhead that the head sister couldn't hear. When they were all gone, the head sister pondered if this was what people felt like before they took up smoking.

* * *

><p>Nagisa sighed as she tossed her ruined uniform aside. As she was no expert at sewing, and didn't even know where her sleeve had gone, she knew she couldn't fix her uniform. The redhead wasn't sure if she would be receiving another one, or if she was supposed to wear her regular clothing, or- <em>oh god, what if they expect me to go to classes naked?!<em> _That sadistic, perverted devil! _ Maybe _that_ was why their punishment seemed so light!

Nagisa's eyes shot open at the thought of the school actually forcing her to do something so _wrong_, and she immediately regretted it. Due to having not changed her shades since the uniform was a bigger concern in her mind, the light hit her exposed eye, causing her to flinch it shut from the sudden pain. She had been quicker to shut her eye when her sunglasses had broken, but that _might_ have been because she was being punched in the face.

She groggily leaned against the wall as she sat back on her bed. The weary student could safely say that today sucked. She had snapped and recklessly charged into a fight, had a pair of her shades broken, had her oh-so-wonderful uniform ruined, was told she had to clean an entire friggin' school building, and now the poor girl was bound to her room and didn't even get to eat breakfast! _Hungry…_ The headache wasn't helping much either.

Deciding to just take the easiest route to end this headache and the day in general in the quickest manner possible, she discarded what remained of her sunglasses for her shaded goggles, and then took one of her painkillers. As she always seemed to do, she would momentarily ponder what was in those pills that made her so tired so quickly before she would find herself being too tired to care. She plopped down on her bed and was out before her head hit the pillow.

…

At least, that's how she thought it was supposed to go. It seemed as if she had only just gone to sleep before some incessant object poking at her side brought her back to the realm of the living, or the wake, or whatever.

She tried so desperately to swat away at the offending object with what little energy she seemed capable of mustering, but her efforts proved futile and her arm fell lazily to her side. Anyone who had seen the action would deny that the arm had even moved. It's the thought that counts, right?

Eventually, the object of her ire seemed to give up whatever it was trying to accomplish by repeatedly interrupting her peace, as the poking came to a complete stop. She could barely hear traces of a female voice mumbling something, but her consciousness was lost almost as soon as it had left the first time.

…

_Again?_ Nagisa had no idea how long it had been since the last time it happened, but the repeated poking in her side had returned. It seemed that something or someone disapproved of her trying to get through this day the easy way. What else did the world want to bring her down with today? Would it be worse if she didn't wake up?

With a weak sigh, the drained redhead slowly and awkwardly pushed herself up into a sitting position, trying to wake herself up enough to focus on whoever else was in the room with her. When her vision cleared, she saw Yaya standing over her.

"Finally!" The aforementioned Spican muttered in exasperation. "Didn't think you'd ever wake up. Cute pajamas, by the way."

As Nagisa's haggard brain tried to figure out what the hell Yaya was talking about, she glanced around the room. A glance at the clock told her that she had slept a good portion of the day away, seeing as how classes had ended some time ago. Using the power of half-asleep deduction, she figured that someone had probably tried to wake her around lunch time.

She turned her attention to the other people in the room. She first noticed Tamao, who was standing closest to the clock. Her best friend was sporting her standard worried look and seemed to be holding the shades that Nagisa had discarded earlier. When her mind started functioning at its normal pace, she'd be able to tell Tamao that she had more shades tucked away…somewhere. She also noticed that Tamao seemed to glance up at Nagisa from time to time, but tried to make it look like she was studying the shades. Why Tamao would do that, Nagisa didn't know.

Her focus moved to the girl directly in front of her, Yaya. The girl that dared to interrupt her rest seemed to be studying Nagisa, or her body, it seemed. Rather strange, since Nagisa, tired or not, didn't seem to recall Yaya doing something like that often, if at all.

Deciding that thinking about it was too much effort at the moment, she turned her attention to the next person she saw, Tsubomi. Her adorable little tsundere was sporting an incredibly deep blush, and seemed to be trying, and failing, to not look directly at Nagisa. She had her head turned away, but frequently shot glanced at Nagisa, then appeared more embarrassed each time she looked away, if that were possible.

After internally questioning why Tsubomi kept acting the way she did, the last of Yaya's words finally seemed to register. _Pajamas?_ She looked down at her body and saw what was making the pinkette blush so deeply. It seemed that Nagisa had forgotten to change, distracted by the state of the clothing she had discarded at the time.

It was most likely thanks to the medication that she didn't immediately freak out from being seen in her undergarments, with at least two of her friends examining her scars in their own ways – one trying to be subtle, and the other apparently not knowing what the word 'subtle' means.

"Like what you see?" Nagisa imagined that, if she had been wide awake, the question would have been asked in a faux flirty tone. Nagisa also imagined that she wouldn't have asked the question at all if she had been wide awake because she would have been freaking the hell out. _Should have used a blanket._

"I know someone that does." Yaya answered, turning her head to look at their pink-haired kouhai.

"Shut up!" The blushing girl cried out in protest.

"Oh? Why? It's not like I accused you or anythi-" The bickering between the two Spican students was lost on Nagisa when she noticed that there was one more person in the room. The last person was standing near the closed door, completely shocked by what she was seeing. The realization that someone who didn't know about the real her was now seeing her in such a state finally dawned on Nagisa as she greeted the final person in the room.

"Hello... Hikari."

* * *

><p><strong>Remember when I said I can't make a schedule for updates? Yeah, I think I've proven that poin-what? You don't remember? It's only been nine months! <strong>

**I'M BACK, OH LOVELY READERS! Yeah, I didn't expect my return either. I was originally planning to have a chapter out by Christmas, but that totally didn't happen. I really don't have much excuse for not working on this at the time. Then my final semester at university started and some of the classes were WAAAY harder than I expected. Heck, I've probably only logged on like two or three times in the nine months I've been gone. But yeah, I've finally graduated, got my bachelor's, and now the job search is on! **

**For my return, I brought you guys a little bit of that oh so lovely drama. Did any of you expect an actual fight? I hope not. I'd like for my update schedule not to be the only thing that's unpredictable. I had originally planned to show the fight starting from Nagisa's perspective before it switched over to everyone in the office, but a storm knocked my internet out for a week (which is a totally crappy birthday present, mother nature), so I couldn't look up what was actually said and decided to fudge that idea. I think that part turned out well. Also, the reason everyone is referenced so formally is because it's from the head sister's perspective while in the office. I put everyone's full name the first time they were mentioned in case anyone forgot or didn't know a character's last name. Also, screw putting dashes over the o! I'm lazy!**

**Now for those reviews that I've been way too slow to respond to.**

**doodles – If one were to listen closely after Nagisa intruded, they would find that Nagisa had done little to actually ruin the mood. Perverts!**

**the cold raven – If I had answered that, I'd have totally lied. If this one took nine months, who knows when the next one will come?**

**KittyAttack – Oh. My. God. Perfect opportunity for a joke, completely wasted! I have failed!**

**silverFang – It's always the shy, quiet ones that you have to watch out for. Since they don't talk much, it gives them more time to think, and plot. Mwahaha**

**The Burning Hunter – It's not all lighthearted. I gotta throw in some drama to keep people on their toes. I'd like to think that there's some deep, complex underlying to an otherwise silly story, but I don't think my writing is on that kind of level.**

**Gnarled Bone – Pretty sure I'm the only one that should apologize for not updating. I have successfully resisted your puppy dog eyes! …but in this case, that's probably not what I should have done. Oops!**

**bogey654 – A book? Oh, that would never happen. It's easier to write a story when there's already some sort of foundation, like already existing characters and setting. If I tried to write this story from scratch with completely original characters…*shudders***

**Guest – Oh, you and your poorly placed optimism. When I actually sit down and write, the chapters don't take that long. The problem is that I never really get to sit down and write, or I'm just a lazy arse. **

**2takuya – No, don't cry! My updates are inconsistent, but I've said before that I don't plan on abandoning this story. You'll just never know when it'll update, cuz I don't know either! **

**MYSTERY-SANCHAN – Totally didn't get what the name meant until I read your review. I must be getting old. Half a year? We've passed the ¾ mark now! It sounds like you, dear reader, have fallen victim to my evil ways. Mwahahaha! As for mystery girl, I have an idea of two possible people, depending on how the story goes later on, and I'm not gonna tell who they are. Neener neener!**

**Jeys17 – Guess what? I came back, baby.**

**Sad Person – Your name made me a sad person. I'm not dead…I think. Let's see. Pulse? Check. Heart beat? Check. Brain function? Uhh…close enough. **


End file.
